Dive Brief:

• Home Depot, which had an uplifting Q2 report, has tapped its retail chief, Craig Menear, to replace CEO Frank Blake.

• Blake, who is credited with smoothing out the chain’s rocky fortunes by focusing on its core retail business rather than its wholesale business, is leaving after seven years in the position. He remains as chairman of the board.

• Although Blake presided over layoffs during tough times, he reportedly helped improve employee morale, which suffered under previous CEO Bob Nardelli.

Dive Insight:

Craig Menear’s rise into the CEO position at Home Depot is no surprise; that was reportedly the plan when he was tapped to be retail chief. The retailer has had smooth sailing in recent years under Frank Blake, who had to tame some choppy waters when he first arrived. He is one of the few retail CEOs these days leaving, as Bloomberg notes, on a high note, though change is never entirely easy.