Handy Dan

{{Short description|American hardware store chain}}

Handy Dan Home Improvement was an American home improvement store founded by Amnon Barness, an Israeli immigrant. It went out of business in May, 1989.http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SAEC&p_theme=saec&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAFE7444964D657&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM]

By 1972, the company operated 30 stores in California, Texas, Arizona and Oklahoma. It made an initial offering in November, which led to Daylin, Inc. owning 81% of Handy Dan.{{Cite news |date=1972-11-22 |title=Equity Financing |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/11/22/archives/equity-financing.html |access-date=2024-07-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Daylin filed for bankruptcy in February 1975, though its subsidiaries were not included in the Chapter 11 proceedings.{{Cite news |date=1975-02-28 |title=Daylin, Big West Coast Retailer, Files a Petition for Bankruptcy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/28/archives/daylin-big-west-coast-retailer-files-a-petition-for-bankruptcy.html |access-date=2024-07-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Handy Dan was one of the few assets the company didn't sell during this time.{{Cite news |last=Lindsey |first=Robert |date=1978-06-11 |title=Up From Bankruptcy: How Daylin Bid for Dymo |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/11/archives/up-from-bankruptcy-how-daylin-bid-for-dymo-daylin.html |access-date=2024-07-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Bernard Marcus was CEO of Handy Dan in 1978 when he was fired along with company vice president Arthur Blank amid a corporate power struggle with Daylin CEO Sanford C. Sigoloff. Marcus and Blank went on to found Home Depot.{{cite news | url= https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197614 | title= Bernie Marcus & Arthur Blank | newspaper= Entrepreneur | date= October 10, 2008 | accessdate=February 10, 2021}}{{Cite web |last=Loeb |first=Walter |title=The Story Of Ken Langone, The Visionary Behind Home Depot |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2018/07/24/the-story-of-ken-langone-the-visionary-behind-home-depot/ |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=Forbes |language=en}}

Daylin was purchased by W. R. Grace and Company in 1979.{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1979/03/22/archives/grace-completes-purchase-of-daylin.html | title= Grace Completes Purchase of Daylin | newspaper=The New York Times | date= March 22, 1979 | accessdate=February 10, 2021}} In 1986, Grace's retail home improvement division, which included Handy Dan and Channel Home Centers, was sold to the division's executives through a leveraged buyout.{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/02/business/company-news-grace-will-sell-home-centers.html | title= Grace Will Sell Home Centers| newspaper=The New York Times | date= December 2, 1986 | accessdate=December 29, 2009}}

Handy Dan played a major role in getting Texas's religion-based blue laws repealed in 1984 by opening on Sunday and using white price stickers for goods that could be sold seven days a week, and blue price stickers for items that could not be sold on Sunday.{{cite news|title=Home Channel News|work=Readers Respond: Handy Dan, Home Depot and Lowe's|url=http://www.homechannelnews.com/%28S%28ylbdr255f5ax4a55vwwp3e45%29%29/story.aspx?id=126889&menuid=267|access-date=2010-02-24}}{{dead link|date=November 2019}}