Hechinger's legacy to the 21st century

Home Channel News, Oct 25, 1999

The news last month that Hechinger was closing its doors for the last time came, for many, like word of an ailing celebrity who passed away suddenly: Few were surprised, yet the loss stunned more deeply than usual. Hechinger, perhaps as much as any single company, symbolized much of what was great about America in the 20th century -- and what has changed in home improvement.

It was one of a breed of enterprising, family-built merchant businesses founded early in this century, when trading in building materials meant being as resourceful in finding supplies as in selling them. It was a breed that managed to keep making the payroll through the Great Depression and went on to ride the tidal wave of growth as America exploded with new housing after World War II.

The Hechingers were quickly joined by a new generation of family-run businesses and pioneers. There were the Grossman's in Massachusetts, the Rickel brothers and the Slaters (who founded Channel) in New Jersey, the Pergaments in New York, the Cohens (Central Hardware) and the Sutherlands in Missouri, the Wolohans in Michigan, the Lamberts in Minnesota, the McCoys in Texas, the O'Malleys in Arizona and the Knells (Ole's) in California. And there were men like Carl Buchan, who founded Lowe's; Jim Sweet, who founded Scotty's; Joe Hardy who founded 84 Lumber; and John Menard, to name only a few.

Yet the company the Hechinger family built was for many years the vanguard of what became a full-fledged industry. From its larger-than-average-size stores to the way it catered to women shoppers long before it was fashionable, in its day, Hechinger truly lived up to its promise as "The World's Most Unusual Lumberyard" and epitomized the successful American business. The company's collapse in the final years of this century is equally symbolic: many things have changed across a century, though certain immutable laws have not.

Surely, scale matters more than ever before, especially when it comes to attracting capital. So does speed. Perhaps most of all companies today must be ever more adaptive. That will be increasingly true as competition moves from regional to global to virtual battlegrounds.

What has not changed is the need for clarity of purpose, understanding one's customers, and the importance of execution. Many contend Hechinger was simply done in by a better mousetrap called Home Depot. Others chalk it up to aloof and confusing leadership. In the end, trying to operate Hechinger as both a warehouse and a traditional home center chain made the company an unwieldy vessel; tying it to a sinking ship by merging it with Builders Square proved fatal.

Contrast Hechinger's decisions with those made by Lowe's, a company which might easily have suffered a similar fate. Lowe's stands instead as one of the great industry success stories of this century for its ability to adapt, refocus and execute.

The Hechinger saga is but one facet of a remarkable story of how America came to build and improve the homes people lived in during this century.

Before that century draws to a close, the editors of NHCN have attempted admirably to capture a brief retrospective of this remarkable "Century of Home Improvement."

No single issue could do justice to all the people, products and innovations that shaped American housing and home improvement in this century. But, we hope our readers will enjoy this issue. We dedicate it to the pioneers and unsung heroes that made this industry great during the 20th century.