New leader hired for Hacketts chain
OGDENSBURG — Seaway Valley Capital Corp. has hired a new leader for the Hacketts department stores in hopes of turning the troubled franchise around.
On Monday, the company announced the appointment of Herbert L. Becker as the chief operations officer and vice-president of the Patrick Hackett Hardware Co.
"He's got a pretty diverse and strong background in the retail industry. He's worked with some pretty high profile and fast growing companies, so we're glad to have him at Hacketts," said Thomas W. Scozzafava, chief executive officer of Seaway Valley Corp., which owns Hacketts. "I brought him in to make a positive contribution. My guess is strong change is going to occur."
Mr. Becker has worked for retail chains for nearly 30 years and was a senior executive for T. Eaton Co., Toronto, one of Canada's largest department stores, before the iconic chain went bankrupt and was sold to Sears Canada Inc. for $50 million in 1999. He also has consulted for Wet Seal, a Los Angeles-based clothing company, and Tommy Hilfiger Corp., New York.
Mr. Becker said he plans to change the dynamics of the company by launching an e-commerce division that will sell Hacketts products online. He also plans to streamline operations and diversify the company's products to broaden the customer base.
"There will be a lot of changes, some will be gradual and some will be immediate," Mr. Becker said. "I'm going to do what is normally done in a retail business when you have a crisis like this. That is to find suppliers that will deal with us and to mend fences with vendors. It also means making the stores look more full. Whether that means condensing or closing some of them, I don't know yet."
Mr. Becker said one thing that will change are the roles of the former top three officers — Norman V. Garrelts, Patrick E. Hackett Jr. and Juliann Hackett-Cliff.
Although company officials are still discussing the management changes, Mr. Becker has proposed making Mr. Hackett director of operations and Mrs. Hackett-Cliff director of merchandising.
The two are former company owners and vice-presidents, who, along with Mr. Garrelts, resigned from their positions in March to avoid being held liable as executives in a financially troubled company, Mr. Scozzafava said. The three continued at the company as consultants.
According to Mr. Becker, the two directors will report to him and will not have any executive authority or legal accountability to shareholders.
"Both Julie and Pat, their roles are changing, and either they're going to accept the roles and we'll work together, or they won't," Mr. Becker said. "That'll be their decision."
Mr. Hackett and Mrs. Hackett-Cliff declined to comment.
Mr. Becker did not comment on whether Mr. Garrelts, whose contract with the company ended in March, will remain at Hacketts.
Mr. Garrelts had been president and chief executive officer before resigning, and had been working as a consultant earlier this month. He was not available for comment Monday. Company officials said he was on vacation.
Monday afternoon Mr. Becker met with store employees.
"I'm in that information-gathering mode, right now. I'm figuring out what went wrong and what went right and how to fix it," he said.
While the Ogdensburg, Potsdam, Sackets Harbor and Tupper Lake Hacketts stores remain open, stores in Massena, Watertown and Pulaski closed earlier this year. Stores in Gouverneur and Canton are scheduled to close soon.
Seaway Valley Capital Corp. has been struggling to pay off a $5 million loan from Wells Fargo secured in January 2008. The company received more bad news Friday as GBR Market Street LLC and Potsdam Holdings LP filed a lawsuit alleging the company owes $56,851.42 in rent for the Hacketts store in Potsdam.
