House-Hasson moves January market to virtual format

House-Hasson Hardware announced that it will hold an online dealer market sales event similar to the company’s recent summer online dealer market. 

Plans have been shelved to hold an in-person market during Jan. 2021, at Nashville’s Opryland Hotel, according to Don Hasson, president of House-Hasson, one of the nation’s largest independent regional hardware distributors. 

“This week we looked at the statistics on COVID-19 and restrictions that exist at present on large gatherings in Nashville,” Hasson said. “We decided to cancel the in-person Opryland Hotel market, and we’re instead going to have a full-blown online market.”

The Fresh Start online dealer market is scheduled for Jan. 28 – Jan. 29. 

The buying market will include bonus buys, pallet buys, super savers, deals on drop-ship, and warehouse orders, in addition to other dealer margin-builders.

Hasson said that getting the word out early about the change of plans is important because of the numbers of people who attend markets, the amount of advance preparation required, and to enable dealers to begin planning how to make the most out of the January online market. 

“Our online market in June 2020 had about a 20% year-over-year sales gain,” Hasson added. “To say we were pleased would be an understatement.”

House-Hasson chose to go with a smaller sales event in October, principally because product demand was so high as the distributor focused on meeting the immediate needs of its dealers. 

“Their profitability is the basis for everything we do,” Hasson said.

During the upcoming January market, Hasson and company staff plan on personally meeting with customers through the virtual format.

“For nearly 115 years we’ve been building relationships with dealers,” Hasson said.  “There’s a lot of personality in the hardware business, and the interpersonal relationships are an important part of our company’s life.”

But holding a market with 1,500 to 2,000 people wasn’t in the cards when it comes to being confident about safety. 

Information about the January market can be found on www.househasson.com with specifics being shared soon.  

Based in Knoxville, Tenn. House-Hasson Hardware serves some 2,500 dealers in 23 U.S. states and the Caribbean basin.