Tag: Home Depot

At a time when progressive politicians and some members of the middle class are questioning whether billionaires, however philanthropic, should even exist—and when the country and globe are on the brink of the largest catastrophe in a century or more­—can Blank give away enough of his wealth to satisfy his own desire for tzedakah—let alone society’s unprecedented need for it?

A few summers ago, as my family pulled into our Kirkwood driveway after a vacation, my yardwork addiction hit a low point. Before unloading a single boogie board or sand-dusted chair, I scurried into our front yard and yanked out a few weeds. I couldn’t stand their presence another second.

The Home Depot cofounder still ranks on the 2015 Forbes billionaires list (number 737), but he’s better known these days as owner of the Atlanta Falcons and the city’s new MLS team, Atlanta United FC.

After being fired in 1978 from a home improvement store, Marcus wasted no time in launching an idea for a new retail model. Over the following decades, he and business partner Arthur Blank expanded the Home Depot to more than 1,800 stores in all 50 states.

As the director of trend and design for the Home Depot, Sarah Fishburne travels the world for inspiration. An Atlanta native and a graduate of UGA’s furnishings and interiors program, she works on everything from plants to paint colors, both designing proprietary brands and selecting from national labels.

The Braves' new neighbors in Cobb County may be in for sticker shock. A proposed tax district planned to help subsidize stadium construction would comprise more than double the taxable property in the existing Cumberland tax district.

Yet to those who root for pro sports (and, I hope, those who play them) the night felt unmistakably like a consolation prize. We were told repeatedly how lucky we are to be here in this world-class sports town. We were reminded that the New York media was against us. We were so showered with love and self-serving praise that you almost expected, say, a Boston sports fan to leave behind his seven titles in the last twelve years so he could come down and buy season tickets to half-empty Turner Field.

Arthur Blank turned sixty-five last September, in the middle of the worst year of his professional life. Just weeks before, Michael Vick, the marquee Falcons quarterback around whom Blank had built the team, had pleaded guilty to running a dog-fighting ring out of his home in Virginia.