Bernie Marcus, Home Depot Co-Founder, Is Dead at 95

Bernie Marcus, who came up with a revolutionary business idea in the late 1970s — create a do-it-yourself, big-box suburban outlet that would seem more warehouse than store — and, with a partner, turned it into the Home Depot, the world’s largest home-improvement retailer, died on Monday in Boca Raton, Fla. He was 95.

His death was announced on his Facebook page.

Mr. Marcus had just been fired as chief executive of a California-based hardware chain in 1978 when he hit on the idea of a store — nothing fancy — that would appeal mainly to the weekend warrior doing repairs and making improvements around the house and yard. The formula was simple: Stock the shelves to the ceiling with a vast selection of every conceivable home-improvement product at discount prices, and hire knowledgeable salespeople to double as customer advisers.

He and his partner, Arthur Blank, a former colleague at the California chain, Handy Dan, launched Home Depot that year. Its first outlet was opened in Atlanta with the backing of the Wall Street financier Ken Langone. Today, Home Depot boasts more than 2,300 stores across North America, with more than $150 billion in annual revenue.

Mr. Marcus oversaw the company’s explosive growth as chief executive for its first 19 years and chairman until 2002. Along the way he, Mr. Blank and Mr. Langone became billionaires; they also lined the pockets of legions of Home Depot employees who had received generous stock options.

“He was an inspiring visionary,” Mr. Blank, who succeeded Mr. Marcus as chief executive in 1997, said in an interview for this obituary in 2013. “He was a retailer who was often able to see around corners that others couldn’t see.”