Throwback Thursday: ‘Hech’ of a Speech

During the 1978 National Home Center Home Improvement Congress & Exposition, the speaker’s spotlight fell on Richard England, chairman of Hechniger.

The Feb. 27, 1978 issue of National Home Center News, the forerunner of HBSDealer, told the story under the headline: “Hechinger chief urges new attitude.”

Generally, the kind of attitude urged at the time was upbeat. England challenged retailers to “accentuate positive and innovative attitudes toward merchandise trends, employees and customers, not to mention competitors and even the government,” according to the front page article.

He recommended that home centers consider themselves squarely in the fashion business. He encouraged cross-retail cooperation in efforts to combat theft and fraud. He pushed for socially responsible behavior that pays off in the community and at the cash register. And he suggested that retailers everywhere learn the names of their customers.

England was critical, however, of entrepreneurs “who smell a fast buck by becoming a home center.” He predicted: “Dabblers will be burned.”

A year later, a handful of entrepreneurs launched The Home Depot.

Neither Hechinger nor the Home Center Show are with us today.

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