Home Depot’s former chief executive Frank Blake, who stepped down from that role in November after a seven-year tenure, is planning to retire as chairman of the home-improvement retailer effective Feb. 2.
The move will mean that Craig Menear, a 17-year veteran at Home Depot (HD) and currently CEO and president, has consolidated power at the top of the retailer as he will also take on the chairman role.
Home Depot has reported strong sales and profit growth as the retailer benefits from a recovering housing market and the company’s own internal efforts to improve customer service and revamp its supply chain. Before Menear became CEO last year, he most recently led the company’s U.S. Retail operations. He was long seen as a top contender to succeed Blake.
While Home Depot has performed well and has consistently outperformed its top rival Lowe’s (LOW), it ran into some troubles last year after a data breach exposed millions of payment cards and e-mail addresses. Much of the damage has been fairly well contained, and the news of the hack and how Blake kept his legacy intact was profiled by Coins2Day in a recent magazine story.
Home Depot didn’t say why Blake opted to retire as chairman, though lead director Greg Brenneman said the company was fortunate to have “another great leader in Craig Menear and look forward to working closely with him moving forward.”