Home Health Depot closes doors

LOMITA, Calif. – Home Health Depot, a retail-focused home medical equipment (HME) provider based here, has closed, citing a series of setbacks – driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and Amazon – bringing an end to Owner Jim Leedom’s decades-long run.

“I started this business in 1999 with $300 and a website,” he said. “It was time to call it a day.”

Pandemic bet backfires

When the pandemic hit, Leedom expected families to pull loved ones out of assisted living facilities, where COVID-19 was spreading rapidly. Anticipating demand, he invested heavily in hospital beds so patients could transition back home.

That demand never materialized.

“They stayed in the assisted living facilities,” he said. “That was the first straw.”

Amazon pricing pressure takes toll

With that inventory investment weighing on the business and revenues down “a good 40%” post-pandemic, Leedom faced a second major challenge: competing with Amazon on price.

“People would walk into the store with the Amazon app already open,” he said.

A typical sales interaction around a scooter would unfold like this, Leedom said:

• He’d explain all the features of the scooter and demo it.
• The customer would chuckle and say, “I can get one online for less, like $400.”
• He’d explain it wasn’t the same quality and wouldn’t come with the same services.
• The customer would say, “If it breaks down, at that price, I can just get another one.”

Leedom said he began losing money every month. Even after reducing staff to two employees, the numbers no longer worked.

Liquidation challenges linger

After closing in late September, Leedom turned to winding down the business – selling the website domain and phone number, along with the customer list and remaining inventory.

Offloading that inventory, however, has proven difficult. Valued at about $35,000 wholesale, even steep discounts haven’t generated sufficient interest.

Leedom organized an auction and invited area HME providers, but no one showed up. He has also reached out to companies that purchase equipment, but says their focus is on hospital and surgical equipment.

“Eighty percent of it is rental equipment that is used but in good shape, and 20% is new,” he said. “I’m stuck with all this inventory that I’m paying rent on a storage unit for. I’m still trying to sell it!”

A long run comes to a close

Leedom, who turned 76 in July, weathered numerous challenges over the years, from the loss of his business partner in 2001 to the economic downturn in 2008.

But Leedom says he wouldn’t pick a different career if he could do it all over again.

“Just before closing I was amazed at the number of folks who came in to say goodbye and to tell me their story of how I had helped their parents and loved ones with not only equipment but caring and understanding,” he said. “That was one of the main reasons I chose this business back in 1999. I am forever grateful that I did.”