The Home Depot was founded in 1978 in Atlanta, Georgia by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank after the two got fired from their positions at Handy Dan. The company grew rapidly, with sales topping $1 billion annually by 1986. In 1997, Home Depot expanded to Chile and Argentina with unexpected success during these countries' economic booms. But due to labor union influences in countries historically moved by economic socialism (unlike the highly capitalism-oriented economy in Mexico), Home Depot wanted to pull out and avoid conflict of interests with their governments. Home Depot remains active in South America, but increasingly focuses on its twelve new stores in China opened in 2006 with better results and success in a communist, but free-enterprise motivated country. In 2000, after the retirement of Marcus and Blank, Robert Nardelli was appointed chairman, president, and CEO. Nardelli was replaced in January 2007 by Frank Blake.
