Common use of Foreword Clause in Contracts

Foreword. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. (“Home Depot”) understands Maricopa County’s (“Lead Public Agency”) continued need to reduce its overall costs and intent to enter into a new Master Agreement for a complete line of “Maintenance, Repair and Operating (MRO) Supplies and Industrial Supplies in a Retail and Wholesale environment; and Related Products and Services (installation, repair and renovation). Home Depot, through our strong national presence providing access to a vast array of supplies and equipment necessary for maintenance and repair in residential, commercial and industrial environments for use by various government agencies nationwide, is proposing through this submittal support for the retail environment aspect of the solicitation; consistent with the six years of successful performance under the prior MRO retail agreement between the parties. Executive Summary Home Depot, building on successes associated with the cost savings to Participating Public Agencies under our previous MRO agreement with the Lead Public Agency and our nationwide retail presence, is pleased to propose a plan herein to supply maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) supplies to all Participating Public Agencies. Our plan, consistent with the previously awarded MRO Agreement 05091 provides all Participating Public Agencies access to an un-paralleled inventory of MRO, building materials and hardware items – including associated installation, repair and renovation services. Professional building and maintenance people will be able to conveniently meet their needs for building hardware from a local Home Depot retail store, and plan procurements from the xxx.xxxxxxxxx.xxx web site which displays and distributes many of the products found in our stores. In addition, our nationwide outside sales team can help facilitate supporting the needs of the Professional building and maintenance people by working as a team to provide solutions to those product needs and any services needed by those agencies. If our proposal is accepted, we will continue to promote this contract as the primary instrument under which Home Depot does business with any potential Participating Public Agencies. In conjunction, our sales force is continually updated regarding the mechanics of a US Communities based partnership with agencies and directed to identify with its terms at all opportunities. Consistent with our previous six years of implementation of the US Communities MRO contract 05091, Home Depot emphasizes our everyday low price guarantee: the price charged any public agency will be the lowest available in that market at that time for the identical item or we will match the price and refund 10% of the difference in accordance with standard Home Depot return policies. In addition, our offer provides for enhanced rebate incentives back to the Participating Public Agency based upon purchase volume. Executive Summary (continued) Home Depot offers a robust selection of products in all MRO, hardware, and building product categories - and associated services - at each of our locations. Some of the categories are notable strengths of ours, and almost define our business (e.g., building materials and paint). It is important to note that not all categories of merchandise are equally well represented in each of our store locations. This difference reflects practical issues regarding material handling and the distribution of certain classes of products. If a category is better represented in one location than another, it is driven by historical needs of the local population. In summary, our proposal offering is based upon the following business elements that have proven successful in support public agency procurement needs: • Immediate same-day access to over 30,000 products at each store location • Enhanced access to hundreds of thousands more products through special orders • Bulk ordering incentives through our Volume Pricing Program • Rebate incentives to Participating Public Agencies based upon spend volume • Dedicated Government Sales team and Outside Sales Representatives across the nation About the Home Depot Home Depot and its family of subsidiaries are among the most well-known and widely-respected corporations in America. We have been a public company since 1981, and our common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “HD”. The company is included in the Dow Xxxxx Industrial Average of thirty stocks, and in the Standard & Poor’s index of 500 industrial stocks. Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer with stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, 10 Canadian provinces, Mexico and China. We are one of the nation's largest advertisers, and we utilize a broad range of mass media and targeted media. We also incorporate major sponsorships into our marketing plan, such as NASCAR®, the U.S. Olympic® team, The Home Depot Center, ESPN Game Day®, CBS® College Football and a number of home and garden television shows.