Home Depot buys Savannah distribution center, bolsters supply chain and hurricane relief

Home Depot’s purchase of its Savannah Distribution Center gave the company tighter control over a key Southeast hub that feeds hundreds of stores, speeds replenishment when demand spikes, and doubles as a storm-response base when hurricanes threaten the region.

The company bought the 1.4 million-square-foot facility and more than 100 acres of adjacent land from the Savannah Economic Development Authority after leasing the site since 1995. The deal was approved at a public SEDA meeting on January 23, 2025, and finalized on January 29, 2025. Home Depot said the distribution center typically employs around 250 associates and stocks disaster-relief supplies and seasonal goods for much of the Southeast, making it one of the retailer’s most operationally important sites in the region.

For store teams, that matters in the most practical way possible: inventory. A stronger foothold in Savannah can help keep product moving into stores that face everything from spring project surges to late-summer storm prep. Home Depot said Savannah has been a cornerstone of its supply chain for three decades because of its proximity to the Port of Savannah, and it noted that over the last 10 years, with the Savannah River deepening project, seven and a half times more containers now pass through the port. That kind of throughput matters when associates are trying to keep power equipment, tarps, bottled water, generators and seasonal products in stock before customers show up in a panic.

The acquisition also reinforced the company’s disaster-readiness playbook. Home Depot said the Home Depot Foundation and Team Depot pre-stock nonprofit partner warehouses and distribution centers with relief supplies, and that the company runs a Disaster Travel Team for major storms. Nearly 500 associates were part of that team in 2018. Another 75 associates supported the Savannah distribution center after Hurricane Florence, and more than 100 traveled to Houston in 2017 after Hurricane Harvey. Home Depot said its 2025 commitment to disaster preparedness, response and recovery was nearly $9 million.

Trip Tollison, president and CEO of the Savannah Economic Development Authority, said the sale signaled a significant long-term commitment to the region. Georgia Ports Authority president and CEO Griff Lynch said Home Depot became the anchor client for future growth and helped put the Port of Savannah on the map of global supply chains.

For associates, the site also points to the kinds of careers that sit beyond the sales floor inside Home Depot’s logistics network: distribution operations, seasonal buildouts, disaster response assignments and the command-center work that goes into coordinating with the American Red Cross, FEMA, Team Rubicon, Convoy of Hope, Operation Blessing and World Central Kitchen when storms hit. In Savannah, supply chain strategy turned into something store teams can feel in real time, especially when the weather turns.