Jan 27 (Reuters) - Home Depot Inc on Thursday named 22-year company veteran Edward Ted Decker as its new chief executive officer and president, replacing Craig Menear, who will continue as chairman.

Decker, who has been the U.S. home improvement chain's chief operating officer since October 2020, will take over the top job from March 1.

He has also served as chief merchant and executive vice president of merchandising, where he overlooked store and online merchandising departments, among other responsibilities.

The company has lately seen a surge in demand from contractors such as builders and handymen looking to complete a backlog of home improvement projects that were put on hold during the COVID-19 crisis.

Before joining Home Depot, Decker worked in business development, strategic planning and finance at Kimberly-Clark Corp and Scott Paper Co.

(Reporting by Rithika Krishna in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)