Claim:

In April 2025, The Home Depot announced it would begin charging customers for parking.

Rating:

On April 1, 2025, ProTools Reviews — an online publication that reviews tools and posts industry news — published a story (archived) claiming that home improvement retailer The Home Depot would begin charging customers for parking in May 2025. The claim made its way to multiple social media platforms, including X (archived), Reddit (archived) and Bluesky (archived). Some users appeared to believe the claim.

The article began:

In a surprising and unconventional response to rising inflation, The Home Depot has announced that it will begin charging customers for parking at its stores nationwide starting next month. The home improvement giant claims this measure will help offset increasing operational costs and keep prices competitive for shoppers.

The story then went on to describe varying parking costs based on store location ($2 for up to two hours in central Florida to $5 for a full day of parking in Los Angeles) and ways to avoid paying the parking fee (spend over $250 in a single visit or enroll in the Home Depot Pro Xtra program and spend more than $1,000 in a year).

ProTools Reviews listed a number of social media users’ reactions, but none of the posts or accounts described existed publicly — suggesting they had been made up.

The end of the article read: “For more information, please see the original press release,” which linked to a page (archived) clarifying the story was an April Fools’ joke.

In response to the X post above, the official Home Depot account additionally confirmed it was an April Fools’ joke:

(X account @HomeDepot)

In sum, Home Depot is not charging for parking beginning in May 2025. The company confirmed this in a social media post, and the article that originated the claim was an April Fools’ prank.

Sources:

Staff, PTR Editorial. ‘Home Depot to Charge for Parking to Combat Inflation’. Pro Tool Reviews, 1 Apr. 2025,