HOME DEPOT TO INSTALL DIGITAL SURVEILLANCE CAMERA SYSTEM AT ALL STORES

ATLANTA, Sept. 16, 2003 - The Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer, today announced that it has begun installation of real-time, digital video surveillance technology in all of its nearly 1,600 stores throughout North America. The new system will employ approximately 40,000 video cameras to provide far greater monitoring capability than with the analog technology currently in use. The company expects the new technology will help reduce theft and fraud by deterring criminal activity and provide police and prosecutors with greatly enhanced investigative tools.

"For the first time, Home Depot will have significantly increased real-time video coverage of its stores. The new system will help continue our trend of lowering losses due to theft, provide a powerful new deterrent, and enable faster, more conclusive investigations by law enforcement," said Troy Rice, senior vice president, Operations, The Home Depot.

All stores are being fitted with the new video cameras, which will be mounted on ceilings. With the new digital technology, images from dozens of cameras can efficiently be stored on computers, almost indefinitely. If a crime is reported and police want to review the day's events in a store, the store can instantly e-mail or generate a compact disk of whatever footage is needed. Additionally, the images provided are more fluid, consisting of five frames per second and clearly showing continuity of motion.

The company said another consumer benefit of the system is its ability to help combat identity fraud. The cameras will enable the company to synchronize fraud involving stolen account information with video imagery. This will provide extremely useful materials with which to detect and prosecute identity thieves.

The Home Depot expects the installation program to be completed before the end of January. Several retailers currently use digital video surveillance, but Home Depot is one of the first to employ a standardized digital system throughout all store operations.

Founded in 1978, The Home Depot® is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer and the second largest retailer in the United States, with fiscal 2002 sales of $58.2 billion. The company employs approximately 315,000 associates and has 1,617 stores in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, eight Canadian provinces, and Mexico. Its stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:HD) and is included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard & Poor's 500 Index.

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