Hechinger

{{Infobox company

| name = Hechinger

| logo =

| type = Private

| foundation = {{unbulleted list|1911 (building wrecking and salvage)|1919 (retail hardware/home improvement)|2004 (online retailer)}}

| founder = Sidney L. Hechinger

| defunct = 1999 (home improvement retail)
2009 (online retailer)

| fate = Bankruptcy and liquidation

| location = Landover, Maryland, U.S.

| industry = Retail

| products = Lumber, tools, hardware, garden supplies and plants

| homepage =

}}

The Hechinger Company was an American chain of home-improvement centers headquartered in Landover, Maryland, on the immediate outskirts of Washington, D.C., from 1911 to 1999. It was also an online retailer owned by Home Decor Products from 2004 to 2009.

History

File:Hechinger Store Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 1999.png, in 1999.]]

Sidney L. Hechinger had initially established himself in the wrecking and salvage business in 1911, and in 1919 opened his first hardware store in Southwest Washington, D.C.{{Cite web|title = The original do-it-yourselfer|url = http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2002/06/24/story8.html|website = Washington Business Journal|access-date = 2 October 2015|last = Chamis|date = 24 June 2002|first = Eleni}}

Sidney Hechinger focused his hardware business exclusively on retail customers in 1924, eschewing contractors and builders.{{Cite web|title = The Fall of the House of Hechinger; Slow Reaction to Competition in the Market That It Created Led to a Swift Decline|url = http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%257CA57933538&v=2.1&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w&asid=93bf0bb6c1039a150420daf021cd9e83|access-date = 3 October 2015|work = Washington Times|date = 21 July 1997|last = Pressler|first = Margaret Webb|url-access=subscription }} His decision foresaw the rise of the home improvement industry before the sector even had a name.

The five-store company reorganized in 1953, with Sidney's son John and son-in-law Richard England becoming partners in the company, which was divided into a retail hardware business and a wholesale building supplies company, the latter being called Richard England Associates.{{Cite news|title = 2 Units to Run Business of Hechinger Co.|date = 28 June 1953|newspaper = The Washington Post|id = {{ProQuest|152573895}}}} John also served as the first appointed City Council chairman of Washington, D.C.{{cite news |last1=Bernstein |first1=Adam |title=Business Leader Chaired City Council |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2004/01/19/business-leader-chaired-city-council/95171064-8a1e-4558-b4f0-64ce98095094/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 19, 2004 |page=A1}}

In 1972, John Hechinger, Sr. and brother-in-law Richard England took the ten-store company public with an offering of 400,000 shares.{{Cite news|title = Hechinger Plans Stock Offering, New Facilities|last = Samuelson|first = Robert J.|date = 10 June 1972|newspaper = The Washington Post|id = {{ProQuest|148356066}}}}

John Hechinger, Jr. became the third generation of Hechingers to head the company when he was named president of the 54-store chain in 1986.{{Cite news|title = Hechinger Executive's Son Named to Post of President|date = 9 January 1986|work = The Wall Street Journal|id = {{ProQuest|397946562}}}} Later that year, Hechinger Co. announced plans to reincorporate in Delaware, which was approved in a January 1987 shareholders' meeting.{{cite news|title=Hechinger Co. Reincorporation|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=25 November 1986|id={{ProQuest|398013761}}}}

{{cite news|title=Hechinger to Reincorporate

|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=23 January 1987|id={{ProQuest|398055682}}}}

Hechinger had grown to a 69-store chain by the time it made its December 1987 offer to acquire the six stores of Virginia Beach, Virginia-based Home Quarters Warehouse (HQ) for $66 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=66000000|start_year=1987}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}).{{Cite news|title = HECHINGER'S TO PURCHASE VA. CHAIN|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1987/12/18/hechingers-to-purchase-va-chain/7d8b403a-1afc-40ef-b848-d98dff1284e2/|newspaper = The Washington Post|date = 1987-12-18|access-date = 2015-10-02|issn = 0190-8286|first = Caroline E.|last = Mayer}} HQ had been founded in 1984 by W.R. Grace & Co. in the mold of big-box stores such as Home Depot, and operated as a separate division of Hechinger Co.

In the 1980s, it underwent a massive expansion of both HQ and the Hechinger Co. divisions, opening big-box stores to better compete with rivals Home Depot and Lowe's.

In January 1995, Hechinger announced it would close or reformat 22 of its 131 stores, including closing all 14 of the Home Quarters Warehouse stores in North and South Carolina.{{cite news|last=Bird|first=Laura|title=Hechinger to Close Stores, Cut 8% Of Its Work Force|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=12 January 1995|id={{ProQuest|398422082}}}} In August of that year, Hechinger Co. consolidated HQ with Hechinger in a further restructuring.{{Cite web|title = Hq To Merge With Hechinger|url = https://www.dailypress.com/1995/08/24/hq-to-merge-with-hechinger/|access-date = 1 October 2015|date = 24 August 1995|last = Peck|first = Jeanne|publisher = Daily Press|archive-date = 3 October 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151003014843/http://articles.dailypress.com/1995-08-24/business/9508240071_1_hechinger-stores-home-quarters-warehouse-neal-kaplan|url-status = live}}

Searching for a niche, Hechinger management in 1997 launched new, smaller concept stores such as Better Spaces in Albany, New York in February and Wye River Hardware & Home in Wheaton and Rockville in August.{{Cite news|title = HECHINGER TRIES TO REBUILD ITSELF|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1997/04/20/hechinger-tries-to-rebuild-itself/1a8f06a7-b83b-47ce-b158-866aae61f073/|newspaper = The Washington Post|date = 1997-04-20|access-date = 2015-10-03|issn = 0190-8286|first = Margaret Webb|last = Pressler}}{{Cite web|title = Hechinger's name left off new concept|url = http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/1997/09/01/story6.html?page=all|website = Washington Business Journal|access-date = 3 October 2015|date = 1 September 1997|last = Lundegaard|first = Karen M.}}

In July 1997, Los Angeles, California-based investors Leonard Green & Partners announced plans to buy Hechinger Co. for $3 per share, or about $127 million, intending to merge Hechinger with Builders Square, which it had purchased from Kmart for $10 million.{{Cite news|title = Kmart to Sell Builders Square To a Los Angeles Company|url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB869177967655164000|newspaper = Wall Street Journal|access-date = 3 October 2015|issn = 0099-9660|first = Scott|last = Kilman|date = 18 July 1997}} However, when Hechinger posted a second quarter loss of $40.6 million in August, Leonard Green cut their offer price, and ultimately purchased Hechinger Company for $2.375 per share, or about $100.2 million, in September 1997.{{Cite news|title = Hechinger's posts loss for quarter; Offer price is cut|last = Brownlee|first = Lisa|date = 29 August 1997|work = The Wall Street Journal|id = {{ProQuest|398599054}}}}{{Cite news|title = Hechinger Agrees to Cut Sale Price by 21%|url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-aug-29-fi-26904-story.html|newspaper = Los Angeles Times|date = 29 August 1997|access-date = 3 October 2015|issn = 0458-3035|first = Liz|last = Bowie}}{{cite press release|title=Hechinger Company Sold to Leonard Green & Partners, L.P.|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hechinger-company-sold-to-leonard-green--partners-lp-75514797.html|date=25 September 2015|access-date=1 October 2015}}

After several rounds of store closings, the Hechinger Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 11, 1999, but the reorganization failed.{{Cite web|title = Hechinger files for bankruptcy protection|url = https://www.baltimoresun.com/1999/06/12/hechinger-files-for-bankruptcy-protection-competition-tilts-home-improvement-chain-based-in-md/|access-date = 2 October 2015|date = 12 June 1999|website = The Baltimore Sun|last = Murray|first = Shannon D.}} Later that year, in September 1999, Hechinger's assets were liquidated, including its 117 remaining stores.{{Cite news|title = The Region In Review|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1999/09/12/the-region-in-review/18aac2b3-8a92-442a-875b-44dcc319018e/|newspaper = The Washington Post|date = 1999-09-12|access-date = 2015-10-01|issn = 0190-8286|first = Erica|last = Johnston}}

In 2004, Home Décor Products bought the Hechinger brand name and opened an online retailer the following year,Kelly, John, "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/27/AR2006032701623_pf.html A Familiar Brand, Reborn in Pixels]", The Washington Post, March 28, 2006 which sold the same products as the former brand. On February 5, 2009, it was announced that the site would shut down and Hechinger would no longer sell tools. The site closed shortly thereafter.

Hechinger

History

References

Further reading