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House-Hasson Hardware’s acquisition of Long-Lewis Hardware has brought key changes to both companies.
House-Hasson has received a new regional manager; 10 new sales staff members; and 150, 18-wheeler truckloads of merchandise placed on warehouse shelves to sell.
“This was an important acquisition for us because the pool is shrinking, or almost gone, of companies that through acquisition can really add value to our customers and our company,” House-Hasson president Don Hasson says.
“The landscape is getting so consolidated that smaller and medium-sized distributors are quickly becoming a thing of the past. This consolidation has been going on for a long time; we’re glad that Long-Lewis’s owner found us to be the right fit for its employees and customers.”
Long-Lewis of Birmingham, Alabama, was House-Hasson’s fifth acquisition since 1980, the year Hasson took control of the company.
Hasson has named Michael Brady, formerly sales manager with Long-Lewis, as regional sales manager for portions of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
“We’ve brought on board 10 outstanding sales people and a first-tier manager in Michael Brady,” Hasson says. “We’re already seeing excellent results, and I anticipate them to grow significantly as the sales staff becomes more experienced with our system.”
Brady has worked in the hardware industry since 1973 and was with Long-Lewis for the last 17 years. At Long-Lewis, he worked first as a merchandiser, and then as director of purchasing. At the time of the company’s sale, he was Long-Lewis’s general sales manager.
The size, sophistication, and scope of House-Hasson’s services to its hardware dealer and lumberyard customers – and sales staff support – are things that Long-Lewis was unable to provide because of its size, Brady says.
“House-Hasson has been a great fit for us,” Brady said. “Many of House-Hasson’s programs are exactly what the Long-Lewis staff needed and wanted.”
Among these programs are variable pricing; store design and layout; business forecast models; price shopping; availability of advanced point-of-sales systems; website and electronic marketing support; retail pricing; and 40,000 more product line-items to sell.
“I had a good impression of House-Hasson from everything I’d heard and seen of the company over the years, and everything I’ve seen since coming here has supported and strengthened everything I knew about House-Hasson,” Brady says.
House-Hasson’s Long-Lewis acquisition added to House-Hasson some 500 dealers, bringing the total number of dealers to more than 2,000. It also added about $30 million in annual sales, which top $200 million.
“We’re pleased with where we are, with the integration of Long-Lewis staff and products into our system, and, most importantly, we’re seeing very, very positive results,” Hasson says.
House-Hasson’s headquarters is in Knoxville, Tennessee, and its warehouses are in Knoxville and in Prichard, West Virginia. The company is 109 years old.
