People of the Year: Don Hasson

The second annual HBSDealer People of the Year list includes some heavy hitters in the home improvement industry. These are executives who have displayed outside-the-box thinking, along with stick-to-your-guns discipline. They are the leaders of billion-dollar corporations, as well as family businesses. They are guiding huge mergers, and huge acts of charity.

In the next several issues of the HBSDealer Daily, we'll meet all of HBSDealer's People of the Year. 

With a landmark acquisition recently under his belt, Don Hasson is looking out at a long view of the House-Hasson legacy.

“We’re approaching 110 years in business as a family-owned company,” he said. “Our longevity has three principal reasons: staying up with the times technologically; anticipating and responding to our dealers’ needs; and, most importantly, combining all our efforts toward dealer profitability.”

Now, with Long-Lewis Hardware added to the company’s portfolio, House-Hasson’s network has grown by 500 dealers, 10 salespeople and a substantial bout of new inventory — plus an added $30 million in annual sales. It’s only the fifth company House-Hasson has acquired under Don’s watch, who became president in 1990. But in a time of unprecedented consolidation for the industry, the Long-Lewis deal represents something more than an opportunity. It’s one of the few opportunities left to claim, and the addition of 500 dealers to an existing customer base of 2,000 is no trifling matter.

Things are also popping elsewhere. This year, House-Hasson also held its first dealer market in Lexington, Kentucky, thanks to growth in the north part of its territory.

Technologically, the company has also been leading the charge in 2015 with a seminar on its increasingly popular Electronic Toolbox system, as well as one on the CipherLab hand-held ordering system, which has a growing presence at its dealer markets.

That’s another notch in the belt for longevity, and for House-Hasson’s sustained ability to meet growth

opportunities head-on.

“My hope and goal is that whoever sits in this chair 110 years from now can say the same things,” said Hasson.