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WiseBuys to become Hacketts in 2008

By NATHAN BROWN, Enterprise Staff Writer

Posted on: Wednesday, November 14, 2007

TUPPER LAKE — Seaway Valley Capital Corporation, the owner of WiseBuys Stores Inc., announced Friday that it finalized its acquisition of Patrick Hackett Hardware Company Nov. 7. Both chains will now be owned by WiseBuys, which will switch its name to Hacketts.

The deal was sealed at the Hacketts headquarters in Ogdensburg Nov. 7 by executives and representatives from both companies.

“We are pleased to finally bring these two companies together so that we may begin realizing the benefits of combination,” said Thomas Scozzafava, CEO of WiseBuys.

The tentative plan is for WiseBuys stores to start receiving freight for the changeover by Jan. 1, 2008, and the conversion is scheduled to be finished in August, 2008.

There are WiseBuys in Gouveneur, Hamilton, Potsdam, Pulaski, Tupper Lake, Canton and Watertown currently, and they will all be retrofitted to resemble Hacketts stores. Hacketts currently operates stores in Massena, Canton and Ogdensburg. The Hacketts in Canton will be closed in favor of the larger WiseBuys store.

The deal calls for a $1.5 million payment at closing, and additional payment, adding up to $4.5 million total, to be made over eight years to former shareholders of Hacketts. The agreement allows for Hackett family members to retain their management positions. Norman V. Garrelts, president and CEO of Hacketts, will stay on in the same position and run the combined company.

Hacketts’ roots go back to 1830, when it was a ship’s chandelry, wholesale supplier and hardware store. At various times, it sold things as diverse as railroad equipment, building and plumbing supplies, tin, steam fitting equipment and metal plumbing items. Today, they specialize in name brand merchandise, clothing and footware especially, and a wide range of hardware items. The business has been in the same family its entire history, and is now in the fifth generation. The oldest store still in use is the one in Ogdensburg, which was built in 1940.

“WiseBuys management team is thrilled to have become involved in this next and exciting chapter of Hacketts’ story,” Scozzafava said. “The Hackett family has built, over many years, an amazing reputation for quality and service, and these nine stores will create a tremendous platform to build upon and introduce to new markets.”

WiseBuys Stores Inc. was founded in Canton in 2003, to fill the gap in the market left by the closing of small-town retailer Ames. It was founded by New York State Power Authority Trustee Thomas W. Scozzafava, New York State Assembly Minority Whip Dierdre “Dede” Scozzafava, R-Gouverneur, former BJ’s wholesale executive Joseph LaChausse, and former Ames Department Store Chairman and CEO Joseph R. Ettore. Several of their stores, including the one in Tupper Lake, are at former Ames locations.

Hacketts has about 180 employees, and WiseBuys has about 125. The number of people employed should not change.

“We anticipate no reduction in employment,” Thomas Scozzafava said in July. “There may even be increases in employment.”

Seaway Capital, Inc. was founded by Thomas Scozzafava in 2002. In August 2007, Seaway acquired GS Carbon Corporation and changed its name to Seaway Valley Capital Corporation. Seaway invests in companies that require expansion capital and/or are pursuing acquisition strategies.

Merger talks began in July of last year, and in late September 2006, Hacketts took on a $167,000 loan owed to the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency by WiseBuys. Discussion started as either a merger or an acquisiting of WiseBuys by Hacketts, but on July 20 of this year, it was announced that WiseBuys would be acquiring 100 percent of Hacketts’ stock.

WiseBuys is currently looking at additional expansion opportunities within New York State.

Contact Nathan Brown at 891-2600 ext. 26, or

[e-mail].

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