HBC acquires Faucet Queen

Cranbury, N.J.-based HBC Home & Hardware Products, the home products distributor formerly known as Howard Berger Co., has acquired the assets of Faucet Queen.

Faucet Queen’s Helping Hand brand of convenience-oriented home hardware is the market leader in serving the food and drug retail trade, the company said. The Faucet Queen business will continue to operate out of the current Vernon Hills, Ill., facility. 

“Faucet Queen’s strong market position and record of innovation and service for their customers is a perfect fit with HBC,” stated Donald C. Devine, CEO of HBC Home & Hardware products. “We have watched how their Helping Hand brand has successfully appealed to women in categories that have traditionally been focused on men, and that focus has earned shelf space with the leading companies in food and drug retailing.” 

HBC is a division of Hardware Holdings, a Littlejohn & Co. portfolio company. The distributor operates four major DCs in the United States and China. Core categories include home environment products, security and builder’s hardware, plumbing products and paint applicators.

Faucet Queen was founded in 1935. “Combining forces with HBC will add efficiencies in global sourcing and supply chain management that Faucet Queen could not achieve on its own, and the business is now poised to grow,” added Mike Linn CEO of Faucet Queen. 

HBC develops, sources and distributes its goods to leading retailers, discount stores, home centers, wholesalers, drug and food chains, catalog companies, municipalities and hardware stores worldwide.