June 22

Getting the stuff to do it yourself got a lot easier on this day in 1979 when the first two Home Depots opened.

Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank started a chain of large home improvement warehouses that would stock more products, often at lower prices than any competitor or hardware store. Employees knew what was in stock, where to find it, and how to use it all.

Having lost their jobs with California‘s Handy Dan stores a year earlier, Marcus and Blank enlisted investment banker Ken Langone and merchandiser Pat Farrah to raise the needed funds. A nationwide search for the right location ended in Atlanta.

The first two Home Depots opened in former Treasure Island stores, cavernous warehouses stocked with up to 50,000 products. Those first stores have grown to more than 2,200.

The home improvement store that revolutionized the industry first opened its doors in Atlanta on June 22, 1979, Today in Georgia History.