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June 30, 2009

New boss takes over at struggling Hackett's Stores

Department store closing in Massena, Gouverneur

By KIM SMITH DEDAM

LAKE PLACID — Hackett's Stores Inc. has a new director.

Herbert L. Becker, a corporate retail veteran with experience in Internet sales, has been named the new chief operating officer.

Becker fills a vacancy left after Chief Executive Officer Norman Garrelts and former owners and Vice Presidents Patrick E. Hackett Jr. and Juliann Hackett-Cliff resigned earlier this year.

He takes a turbulent helm.

Following 18 months of expansion, the company faced involuntary bankruptcy proceedings in April when six major brand-name creditors pushed for reorganization to recoup a total $1.6 million in debt owed.

Court proceedings were dropped as Hackett's corporate owner, Seaway Valley Capital Corp., reached a forbearance agreement with its banking lender.

Hackett's stores in Watertown and Pulaksi closed shortly thereafter, followed by store closings in Canton. The Hackett's in Massena closed last week, shipping goods to Gouverneur, which is also slated to close in August.

The continued closures leave four Hackett's still in operation: at company headquarters in Ogdensburg and in Tupper Lake, Potsdam and Sackets Harbor.

Managers running the store in Tupper Lake have referred questions about business operations to the Ogdensburg office.

But despite repeated attempts Tuesday, Becker did not respond to Press-Republican questions about how local development will fare.

Hackett's leased the empty former Tops Market space in Lake Placid's Cold Brook Shopping Plaza last year, announcing plans to build a new store by spring.

No new timeline to move in has been set. But Seaway Capital President Thomas Scozzafava has affirmed repeatedly in company statements a sustained interest in opening stores in Lake Placid and Queensbury.

In a press release announcing the new hire, Becker said his initial goals at Hackett's would be to "streamline current operations, diversify the company's product mix to attract a broader customer base and to aggressively pursue an e-commerce division."

The Hackett's Web site is currently offline for reconstruction.

Beckett previously worked with major retailers Wet Seal, Tommy Hilfiger, La Curacao, Betty Barclay, W. T. Grants and Zeller's.

He was formerly an executive at T. Eaton, a Canadian retail giant bought out by Sears 10 years ago.

He is a member of the Florida Institute of CPAs and the National Society of Public Accountants.

His new employer is still facing financial court battles.

On Friday, according to Fox News television reports in Watertown, Hackett's was hit with a lawsuit filed by GBR Market Street LLC and Potsdam Holdings for nearly $57,000 in back rent owed on the Potsdam lease.

Seaway Valley bought Patrick Hackett's Hardware Inc., one of the areas oldest family-owned operations, and five-store WiseBuys chain, merging them in 2007 to create the Hackett's brand.

E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at: kdedam@pressrepublican.com

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