Home Depot Inc. and ServiceMaster Co. have abandoned a joint venture that offered maintenance and repair services after the companies found the results of a pilot program did not meet expectations.
Recently, Home Depot has expanded into adjacent business lines in home improvement. The agreement with ServiceMaster offered plumbing repair, drain cleaning and fixture installation services -- as well as other home maintenance services -- in Home Depot stores in Orlando, Memphis and Sacramento.
The results from the test stores were received in November. According to the companies, the results were “positive, but not up to expectations.”
In related news, ServiceMaster will continue to explore other in-store marketing opportunities for its services with Sears Roebuck and Co. The ServiceMaster Home Service Center, which schedules product repair and services, will enable customers to tap into Sears’ Parts and Repair Services’ network of 12,000 technicians. In-home repairs on kitchen and laundry appliances can be scheduled online at www.servicemaster.com, or via 24-hour phone service.
Another recent agreement with Yahoo! Real Estate will provide consumers the ability to schedule and purchase home services with one click through the newly created Home Services Center on the site.
ServiceMaster currently provides outsourcing services to more than 11.5 million residential and commercial customers, with combined customer level revenue of about $5.1 billion.
