I'll shed tears for the innocent people who are losing their jobs for shareholders' vacation homes - since it seems that big business forgot the entire point of growing a business is to employ people, and that making a profit is simply a related function. I won't, however, shed any tears for the misguided, ridiculous idea - and poor taste - that was Expo:
Home Depot Inc. announced Monday that it was closing its 34 upscale
Expo and other home specialty centers and laying off 7,000 people as a
result of the crumbling U.S. housing market and worldwide economic
downturn.
The company said it would close its 34 sprawling Expo Design Center stores by April, including eight in Southern California, and 14 smaller stores.
Some employees were stunned. "Shock. It was shock. It's just 7,000 of us, just gone," said Chris Toliver, who works in the appliance section at the company's Expo store in Westwood.
"I'm young. I'm 22," he said. "But what hurt the most is the people in their 40s or older, people with families, who are losing their jobs here. Unemployment is nowhere near enough to feed a family."
The company said it would close its 34 sprawling Expo Design Center stores by April, including eight in Southern California, and 14 smaller stores.
Some employees were stunned. "Shock. It was shock. It's just 7,000 of us, just gone," said Chris Toliver, who works in the appliance section at the company's Expo store in Westwood.
"I'm young. I'm 22," he said. "But what hurt the most is the people in their 40s or older, people with families, who are losing their jobs here. Unemployment is nowhere near enough to feed a family."
