Inside the career of Home Depot CEO Craig Menear, who has worked at the home-improvement retailer for over 20 years
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Mar 9, 2019, 19:31 IST
Menear was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, where his father worked at General Motors.
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Menear told the Atlanta Business Chronicle that he still considers Michigan home. Michigan is where Menear met his wife, Dawn.
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"We went to school together in grade school," he said. "She lived five houses down the street from me when we were 10 years old. We started going out in junior high."
Menear said that Dawn has been a major source of support throughout his life: "I couldn't do this without her."
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The Menears would go on to have two daughters together, and they later moved to Atlanta to be close to Home Depot's headquarters.
He revealed to the Atlanta Business Chronicle that he's been interested in home improvement since childhood.
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He said that he and his dad "often worked together on home improvement projects."
Menear also demonstrated an entrepreneurial edge from an early age.
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He told his alma mater Michigan State University that he bought his first car with profits from his childhood lawn care business.
Menear went on to attend Michigan State University. He graduated from the university's business school in 1979.
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After college, Menear landed his first post-grad role at Montgomery Ward, a department-store chain that went under in 2001.
Menear also went to work for Ikea and Builders Emporium. He finally moved on to Home Depot in 1997 and began rising through the ranks of the company.
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In 2007, Menear was promoted to executive VP of merchandising. But the executive's ascent in the company didn't stop there.
In November 2014, Menear was named CEO. He was selected over fellow frontrunners Marvin Ellison — who is now CEO of Lowe's — and current Home Depot CFO Carol Tomé.
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The newly appointed CEO then became chairman in February 2015.
Menear has donated to the Home Depot Political Action Committee over the years. In 2018, the committee donated $1,320,320 to Republican federal candidates and $742,680 to Democratic candidates, according to the Center for Open Politics.
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Menear also supported Republican Sen. Rick Scott and Rep. Karen Handel, as well as Democrats Sen. Martin Heinrich and Rep. John Lewis.
Today, when he's not running Home Depot, Menear keeps busy with causes like the Atlanta Committee for Progress ...
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... and the Salvation Army, which Menear and his wife both support.
In 2015, Menear attributed his success in business to various mentors he's had over the years, telling MSU: "And I was incredibly fortunate to be able to work for some great people during my career who helped me progress."