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Bringing a wealth of experience in the home improvement sphere, Jeff Land has taken over as the chief executive officer of House-Hasson Hardware Company. Land joins House-Hasson from Northern Tool & Equipment, where he served as senior vice president of merchandising, inventory management, product management and global sourcing. He has also previously served in senior roles at Generac and Harbor Freight.
Jim Hasson, chairman of the board of House-Hasson, says bringing on Land reflects the company’s commitment to dealer-focused operations and long-term growth opportunities for alternatives to standardized and impersonal sales organizations.
“Jeff Land is a proven leader with deep experience across manufacturing, distribution and retail within the hardware and building materials industry,” Hasson says. “As House-Hasson continues to grow in scale and complexity, the Board determined that this was the right moment to bring in a leader with the operational discipline, strategic vision and industry insight needed to guide the company forward. After a comprehensive national search, Jeff clearly emerged as the best fit for the future of House-Hasson.”
Land sat down with Hardware Retailing and provided insights into how his previous experience will benefit him in his new role, how he has been spending his first days in leadership and what excites him most about taking the helm at House-Hasson.
Hardware Retailing (HR): How have your previous professional experiences prepared you to lead at House-Hasson?
Jeff Land (JL): First and foremost, my past experience brings two things together: putting the customer first and putting your people first. At the end of the day, that’s what we’re going to do. We are here to take care of our customers and their customers, but for us to do that, we have to take care of our people here too.
What also helps me in the background that I have is combining knowing what it means to be a really strong retailer coupled with executing as a high performing supplier. It’s our responsibility to partner with our customers to help them be as successful and profitable as possible, and that goes well beyond just providing a product. Being a retail partner who can offer a personal touch is important to House-Hasson and will be evolving as we move forward.
HR: What are your immediate goals in your first few months in this new role?
JL: Learning from everybody who works here and learning from our customers. I’ve been in and around the industry for a long period of time, and as I’ve started to craft what our strategic plan is as we go forward, it’s very important that I learn first. It can be the instinct of anybody in this role to want to act quickly and act fast, but I think it’s important to pause and really hear everybody and pay attention to what they are saying.
HR: How do you hope to build on the company culture that currently exists at House-Hasson?
JL: Honestly, that culture was one of the biggest factors for me to come here. I have worked at great companies throughout my career, and it’s very important for me to continue to work for a great one. I love the legacy at House-Hasson; we will celebrate 120 years in August. This company has so many really great people who love what they do and they love who they do it for, and no matter how much we grow and where we grow to, we’ll never lose that. That’s really something that is of value to us.
HR: What excites you most about leading this company? How can independents continue to embrace opportunities in the market?
JL: I think the future’s bright and the retail world is changing faster than it ever has. I love the position we’re in to help the independent dealer network be able to thrive. You hear in the marketplace about how all the small retailers are going to get cannibalized by the larger retailers and while there is always going to be some factor of that, I actually believe the opposite will be true. I think there are so many customers in the U.S. who want differentiating kinds of experiences from the big box, who still want that personal touch and personal experience and value what these independent dealers do for their communities.
To allow them to do that and be successful, we all have to partner with them be the best retailers that they can be. At House-Hasson, it’s our job to be the best partner that we can be so they can take care of those customers in their communities that want to and need to shop with them.
