Growth on display at House-Hasson market

The booths are getting bigger at the House-Hasson Hardware dealer market, and so are the sales increases, the company said.

“A growing number of vendors are bringing their national hardware show booths to our markets, so we’re seeing some bigger displays,” said Don Hasson, president of House-Hasson Hardware. “They know it’s an important show.”

The Knoxville, Tenn.-based hardware distributor reported that sales during its October 2017 dealer market in Sevierville, Tenn., were up 13% over the previous year, which itself was up 14% over 2015. The number of vendors increased as well, by 10 percent, at the 2017 event.

Among those exhibitors with a larger presence were Stanley Hand Tools; DeWalt; and Midwest Fastener. “It makes a statement when vendors go to the effort and expense of bringing to our market the display they use at the annual national hardware show in Las Vegas,” Hasson said.

Company officials also noticed a bump in market attendance and activity from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, states principally served by House-Hasson’s 300,000 square-foot Prichard, W. Va. warehouse. House-Hasson customers are served from Prichard and from the company’s 400,000 square-foot Knoxville, Tenn. warehouse.

“One reason for the uptick from Ohio and Pennsylvania is an ever-increasing number of Amish customers,” said Pat McCutcheon, House-Hasson VP of sales. “They’re great customers; vendors who take their needs into account are making a very good business decision.”

Next up for House-Hasson is its dealer market at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tenn. Feb. 1-3.