Page 21 - City of Hope HHI SOL Journal

TONIGHT’S HONOREE
A 42-year veteran of the home improvement industry, Bill Lennie worked across business lines and geographical boundaries to help define the home improvement warehouse’s place in the retail landscape.
Lennie most recently served as the executive vice president of Outside Sales & Service at The Home Depot, before deciding to retire after 26 years with the company. In that role, he led the company’s Pro, MRO and installation businesses. Under his leadership, he developed an industry- leading salesforce and brought new innovations and initiatives to establish The Home Depot as the premier MRO leader in the U.S. and Canada.
Prior to that, he served as president of The Home Depot Canada, where he was responsible for the sales, merchandising, ecommerce, supply chain, human resources, IT development and operations of 182 stores.
Lennie began his career at The Home Depot in 1992 as a merchant for Millwork and Building Materials before being named vice president of merchandising in 1997. In 2001, Lennie focused his leadership on the company’s kitchen, bath and appliance departments and was promoted to senior vice president of décor in 2002.
Lennie also served as senior vice president of merchandising for the company, where he oversaw global sourcing, proprietary brands, environmental innovation and Your “other” Warehouse, a plumbing distributor owned by The Home Depot. Additionally, he was responsible for retail sales and operations in China and provided strategic direction on products and pricing to the company’s Canadian and Latin American operations.
Before joining The Home Depot, Lennie was a divisional merchandise manager for Lowe’s. Prior to that, he spent eight years with Menards in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, as the millwork plant manager for its manufacturing division.
BILL LENNIE
Retired Executive Vice President of Outside Sales & Service The Home Depot
Bill Lennie most recently served as the executive vice president of Outside Sales & Service at The Home Depot, before deciding to retire after 26 years with the company.