HD Supply Inc. said Tuesday that it will close its Mobile HVAC and plumbing supply division by the end of the week. 

HD Supply is an Atlanta-based wholesale distributor serving private and municipal construction markets. 

Spokeswoman Kate Hahn said the move was prompted by a weak housing market. The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that construction of new, single-family homes fell to a 16-year low in November. 
Hahn said the privately held company does not discuss the number of job cuts in such situations, but a woman who answered the phone at HD Supply on Tuesday said the division has about 12 employees. 

The company has changed hands at least twice in the last two years. 

In January 2006, The Home Depot Inc. announced it would buy what was then known as Hughes Supply for about $8.5 billion. Orlando-based Hughes had been described as one of the nation's top wholesale distributors of construction-related projects, with 500 locations in 40 states. 

On Aug. 30, a group of three private equity firms announced that it had completed the purchase of HD Supply from Home Depot, taking it private. 

At the time, HD Supply reported annual sales of more than $13 billion, almost 1,000 locations and 26,000 employees. 

Hahn said Tuesday that the company now has about 24,000 employees throughout North America. 

HD Supply's Mobile location is at 3050 Dauphin St., and also consists of a waterworks division, which Hahn said will not be affected. That division -- which distributes water and wastewater transmission products -- has nine employees. 

The company also has a location on Bellingrath Road in Theodore that distributes industrial pipe valves and fittings, and Hahn said "at this time there are no plans to close that branch." 

That location has 15 employees. 




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