At his first annual meeting of the company, Nardelli noted that Home Depot more than doubled its sales in the past four years, generating $46 billion for 12 months ended Jan. 28.

``I'm projecting that we will (double sales) again,'' he said, adding that Home Depot's market share is only 9 percent to 10 percent.

Nardelli, who is expected to become chairman at year's end, joined the company in December from General Electric Co., whose businesses range from aerospace to broadcasting. Home Depot, he said, will keep opening new stores and improve same-store sales, or those at outlets open at least a year.

Nardelli said the company will focus on maximizing sales at existing stores by offering more home services, such as carpet installation.

``Last year, we were the largest retail seller of carpeting,'' he said. ``There's no reason for us not to go from being the largest retailer to the largest installer.''

Nardelli said Home Depot will also expand its Pro initiative, which caters to professional contractors, by adding 335 Pro segments to existing stores this year, bringing its total to 500.

``The pro customer spends about 3-to-1 dollars compared to the do-it-yourselfer,'' he said.