In article ,
HeyBub wrote:
"[BEIJING] Home Depot Inc., the U.S.-based home improvement retailer, said
Friday it will close its remaining seven big box outlets in China and focus
on Internet-based sales and specialty stores."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_1...g-box-outlets/

Other reports (WSJ - behind a paywall) attribute the Home Depot failure to
labor being so cheap in China that home and apartment dwellers find it
cheaper to hire work done rather than do it themselves.

HD didn't build the stores, they bought out a copycat chain The Home
Way. My first thought was that closing them was all part of the plan.

m