Kevin Hofmann

As online evolves and e-commerce grows, Home Depot's vision of interconnected retail continues to morph. The retailer is leveraging its brick-and-mortar presence, blended with its virtual assets to better optimize the new technology and new shopping behaviors. "That really is from our company's perspective the center point of our strategy," said Kevin Hofmann, senior vice president and president of online for Home Depot, at the Goldman Sachs Dotcommerce Conference. "Interconnected retail isn't a tangential distraction; we're convinced that this is the future." 

The Home Depot said Tuesday it agreed to acquire U.S. Home Systems Inc. for $94.9 million in an effort to expand its kitchen and bath resurfacing offerings. Atlanta-based Home Depot will pay $12.50 per share in cash for U.S. Home Systems, or about $94.9 million. U.S. Home Systems had about 7.6 million shares outstanding as of March 31. The offer is a 38 percent premium over its closing share price of $9.06 on Monday. The news sent the stock up $3.35, or 37 percent, to $12.41 in morning trading.