42 Years in Orange: The Home Depot’s Longest Tenured Associate (2024)

Back in 1979, Mark Naugle was a college student looking for a summer job. Today, he’s thelongest tenured Home Depot associateand hasspent 42yearsinour stores.

“I was on summer break from the University of Georgia and a friend who was working forHome Depottold me about a new home improvement store opening. Since I was looking for a summer job, I applied. Myresumeincludedthreeyears of prior experience working in the paint business at Handy City and Glidden, so I was hired right away,” Mark recalls.

Those first stores in Atlanta were differentthantoday, especially the store hours.“The store hours were a little odd. We opened at 11 a.m. and closed at 9 p.m. Theidea was to concentrate the associates in a small window to maximize customer service.  As the word got out and customer traffic increased, the hours were expanded.”

As The Home Depot grew, Mark was able to expand his own horizons. “In 1981,thecompanyannounceditsfirst expansion outside the Atlanta market to south Florida. I decided to head south to open the new market,” he says. From there, hewas part ofnew store expansions,in Florida, Louisiana, Arizona andCalifornia.Markhasworked inseveraldepartmentsthroughout his career,includinglumber, building materials, floor and wall, paint, hardware, electrical, garden, furniture, fans and receiving.

Mark opened his current storeinConcord, California, in1991, and has been there ever since. These days, he works part-time in the receiving department.The secret to his longevity is persistence. “It’s not in my nature to give up.Regardless of how challenging, I’m not going to let it beat me,”he says.Inhis freetime,he’s a desert off-road racer and a tour guide for off-road adventure trips in Baja, Mexico.

Mark, who hasexperiencedfirsthand The Home Depot’s journey from scrappy startup to powerhouse, has aword of advice for his fellow associates: “It’s never too early to start saving for retirement. With Home Depot’s401kcompany matchprogram, even the smallest contribution adds up.”

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