ATLANTA -- The surprise resignation of Home Depot merchandising and marketing head John Costello last month set off a series of top-level management changes, including the appointment of stores chief Tom Taylor as his replacement and a new temporary leader of the company's Asia division prompted by the former chief's retirement.

Costello, 58, left to "pursue other business opportunities," according to the company. He spearheaded Depot's successful marketing campaign with the tagline, "You can do it. We can help," led efforts to upgrade merchandise with higher-end items such as LG Electronics appliances and guided merchandising programs to yield average ticket increases.

Replacing Costello is 39-year-old Taylor, a 22-year veteran at Depot whose last position was evp of Home Depot Stores. Taylor has risen quickly up the corporate ladder, promoted to the stores position in December from his previous role as Eastern division head. In that capacity, Taylor supervised the opening of Home Depot's first Manhattan stores. Jim Robisch, senior partner of The Farnsworth Group, a hardware industry consulting firm, said Taylor is considered to have a strong background in store operations. The new stores chief is one of the few top executives left over from the pre-Nardelli era, having started working at Home Depot as a teenager.

Carl Liebert, 40, senior vp of operations, was promoted to replace Taylor as evp of Home Depot Stores. His duties include oversight of all U.S. and Mexico stores and their operations. Liebert will report directly to Bob Nardelli, Depot's chairman, president and ceo.

Other executive changes include Joe DeAngelo's transition from president to evp of The Home Depot Supply, Marvin Ellison's promotion from vp to senior vp of logistics and Chuck Elias' appointment as acting head of Home Depot Asia. Bill Patterson, former president of the Asia division, is retiring and returning to the United States for family reasons.

One analyst, Michael Baker of Deutsche Bank Securities, interpreted Costello's departure in a stock alert as possibly related to the marketing guru's desire to run his own business.

"Our contacts at HD indicate that Costello's decision was a personal one and based on his desire to run his own business. Importantly, we do not believe that this move is indicative of any kind of disappointment in his performance during his tenure," Baker wrote.