New Hackett's chief confident about chain's future

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July 8, 2009

By KIM SMITH DEDAM The Press Republican Wed Jul 08, 2009, 02:06 PM EDT

LAKE PLACID — Hackett’s Store brand is emerging from debt with a plan.

The Tupper Lake store will stay open, but the idea to add a store in Lake Placid will take a back seat to new stores eyed for Queensbury and Plattsburgh.

And new operations are about to turn the tide against nearly forced bankruptcy.

PAYING DEBT

Newly hired Chief Operations Officer Herbert Becker said the last $1 million of almost $5 million owed to Wells Fargo, the company’s bank, will be paid off in a week.

An involuntary bankruptcy claim brought by six name-brand creditors — then dismissed — has an asterisk, Becker said, allowing the department-store chain to continue to buy merchandise on a payment plan.

Hackett’s stores throughout the North Country have been closing since March. One by one, the company has pulled out of Canton, Gouverneur, Potsdam, Watertown and Massena.

Holding the tremulous line, Becker said, the store in Potsdam may be spared, looking toward a sustainable future.

No more stores will close, he said.

“This is happening because all of the stores have aggressively worked toward it.

“In order to survive, we need to be able to control our own destiny.”

YARD SALE

Inventory liquidation is under way.

Becker said he even sold a van the company didn’t use, while merchandise is flying from emptied stores at haggler’s pricing.

“One guy came in and bought a $2,000 flat-screen television for $300,” Becker said Wednesday morning, fresh off the sales floor in Ogdensburg.

“That’s what he offered.”

A Weber grill sold at less than a third its retail price.

Display-only shelving was sold when someone offered a fair price.

“We are selling everything. We’re doing whatever we can,” Becker said. “We are telling people this is our yard sale, but this is also our moment.”

GETTING FIT

Resetting Hackett’s brand includes taking a hard look at what fits in every location.

It also means adding a few new stores.

“We go back to a slightly softer Hackett’s after this,” Becker said.

“There are people in our communities who can’t afford $300 work boots, but they can afford to spend $60 on them.”

Key input, he said, is coming right from the sales-floor staff, where Becker has spent a lot of time since being hired last week.

“The sales force is brilliant. They know what they want to do.”

SAVING POTSDAM

As far as big moves, he said, “I’m going to do everything I can to keep Potsdam open.”

The 41,000-square-foot store is a full-line department store.

The University Plaza site in Canton, in the process of closing, will not reopen.

“Canton is not the right place for us,” Becker said.

Any plans for Hackett’s to reopen in Massena, at this point, is wholly dependant on the International Bridge to Cornwall Island, which closed after the Mohawk nation objected to Canada’s decision to arm border guards.

The closed bridge has created a shoppers’ ghost town.

“The mall is empty,” Becker said. “The entire region is hurt by that bridge not being open.”

TUPPER SECURE

Tupper Lake Hackett’s is open for the long haul.

“It’s in the right location,” Becker said.

The company plans to add a convenience-store section there, allowing people to buy cold drinks and other refreshments on site.

Hackett’s store in Sacket’s Harbor is also gaining a convenience-store section.

Restoring Hackett’s brand name involves building a new store in Queensbury very soon, even by the end of summer, Becker said. The department chain has space at the corner of Upper Glen Street and Route 254, near Staples and Olive Garden.

EYE ON PLATTSBURGH

Hackett’s has also leased space in the vacant Top’s Market at Cold Brook Plaza in Lake Placid.

But it’s not in the current picture.

“I don’t see Lake Placid as the next stop,” Becker said. “Queensbury is the next stop. After Queensbury, you’ll probably see us up in Plattsburgh.”

The company hasn’t selected a location in Plattsburgh.

“There are a few sites I’m looking at,” Becker said. “We’re going to be flexible, because where we are is who we are. But all this noise of gloom and doom is gone. We’re fortunate to have the team of hard-working people we have here.”

Hackett’s headquarters in Ogdensburg is the center of the metamorphic storm right now.

“I was on the floor this morning wearing a top hat,” said Becker, who has a hobby performing magic and once made the Statue of Liberty disappear.

Making debt disappear isn’t an illusion, not in a shrinking economy.

Hackett’s was sued little more than a week ago for over $56,000 in back rent owed on the Potsdam lease.

Becker said it is one of several existent issues.

“I am systematically calling everyone we own money to. We’re not running away from anyone. We’re going to mend fences.

“Hackett’s has been here since 1830, and we’re going to stay here for at least another 100 years.”

E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at:

kdedam@pressrepublican.com