Atlanta-based Home Depot bought the 12-acre site from M.D. Hodges Enterprises of suburban Vinings, GA for $3 million or $250,000 per acre ($5.74 per sf). The new store, tentatively scheduled to open in August, is at Hodges' 416-acre, mixed-use Huntcrest development west of Interstate 85 at Old Peachtree Rd.

Home Depot has targeted New York, Texas, California, Indiana and Florida as its five new growth areas. The company has grown from 10 stores and 4.2 million annual transactions when it opened in 1978 to 286 million annual transactions today. The retailer opened its 1,500th store Dec. 19 in Abilene, TX.

Although its store development volume is on an upward curve, Home Depot's stock price on the New York Stock Exchange is going the other way. Common shares were trading today at $21.10, one of the lowest since the company's stock began trading publicly in 1981.