Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
After holding an October virtual market to enable busy independent hardware store and lumberyard dealers to stay close to their stores, House-Hasson is returning to an in-person market in January. The market will take place Jan. 12-14, 2023, at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.
“Our focus every day is on dealer profitability,” says Steve Henry, House-Hasson president and CEO. “Staffing has been an issue for businesses across the country, and the dealers we serve have been feeling it as well. October’s virtual market was a way of taking some of the pressure off them in terms of being able to staff their stores. Now, dealers and our House-Hasson staff want to go back to in-person markets.”
Henry says the staffing challenges that have affected businesses, including House-Hasson and its dealers, throughout 2021 and 2022 show evidence of turning around.
“We’re getting more applications for employment than we’ve seen in a while,” Henry says. “There are indications that’s becoming true for dealers, too. How that applies to the economy overall is unknown, but what it means for us is that from this point forward, barring something unprecedented and unforeseen, in-person markets are our future.”
“Registrations from dealers and vendors are up,” Henry added. “Dealers use our buying specials’ prices to help make their margins. We also get a chance to visit and spend time together, and that’s important.”
Dealers enjoy the markets in Nashville because of the city’s entertainment options and the 2,888-room Opryland Hotel, Henry says.
“Opryland Hotel, with all it offers, is by itself a destination,” Henry says. “It’s almost a self-contained entertainment city.”
Dealer market features include Bonus Buy Breakfast items and assortments, Super Savers and coupons, payment terms available on drop-shipments and warehouse orders, electronic ordering and market reports, marketing and store service solutions and educational seminars.
Read more about the House-Hasson Summer Market here.
