The Hechinger name was once synonymous with home improvement in the Washington region. Long before the arrival of Home Depot and Lowe’s, Hechinger was the destination for homeowners, builders, and do-it-yourselfers across the Mid-Atlantic, including several well-known Montgomery County locations that locals still remember today.
The story began in 1919, when Sidney Hechinger opened a small hardware store in Washington, D.C. His goal was simple: provide quality materials and knowledgeable service for the growing number of homeowners in the region. The business quickly gained a reputation for its customer care and dependable products, laying the foundation for what would become one of the area’s most trusted retail brands.
By 1953, Hechinger’s operation had expanded to five stores, and Sidney brought in the next generation, his son John Hechinger and son-in-law Richard England, as partners. The company continued to thrive in the postwar building boom, serving a suburban customer base that was rapidly expanding into Maryland and Virginia.
In the early 1970s, the company had grown to ten stores, and Hechinger and England decided to take the business public in 1972, helping fuel further expansion. The chain became a fixture in communities across the region, known for its distinctive orange and black logo and the advertising slogan “Hechinger, the do-it-yourself store.”
John Hechinger Jr., the third generation to lead the company, was named president in 1986. A year later, he reincorporated the company in Delaware as part of a broader effort to modernize operations. By that time, Hechinger had grown to over 50 stores, and by 1995, the company reached its peak with 131 stores across the Mid-Atlantic.
However, that same year marked a turning point. National competitors Home Depot and Lowe’s began aggressively expanding into the region, offering massive warehouse-style stores with lower prices and broader selections. Hechinger struggled to adapt. The company was forced to close nearly twenty stores and reformat several others, the first major contraction in its history.
In 1997, Hechinger was sold to Leonard Green & Partners for $100.2 million, but the move couldn’t reverse its decline. By June 1999, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and by September, every remaining store was shuttered and its assets liquidated. The once-dominant name in regional hardware retail had disappeared after 80 years in business.
The Hechinger name briefly returned in 2004, when Home Decor Products purchased the brand and launched an online tool and home improvement retail site under its banner. That digital revival lasted five years before the website shut down in 2009.
For Montgomery County residents, Hechinger was more than a store. It was part of the local landscape. Locations included Glenmont, Gaithersburg, near Wheaton Plaza, near Montgomery Mall, and Rockville, among others. The Rockville store, which opened in 1957, was one of the company’s early suburban anchors and a sign of the area’s mid-century growth.
Though the company is long gone, its legacy still lingers for those who grew up in the Washington suburbs, a symbol of hometown retail pride before the era of big-box dominance.
Sources:
- The Washington Post, “Hechinger to Go Public” (1972) and “Hechinger Chain Files for Bankruptcy” (June 12, 1999).
- The New York Times, “Hechinger Chain Files for Bankruptcy Protection” (June 12, 1999).
- Los Angeles Times, “Hechinger’s Long Struggle Ends in Bankruptcy” (June 1999).
- Washington Business Journal, “Leonard Green to Buy Hechinger for $100 Million” (1997).
- C-SPAN Interview: John Hechinger Jr. on family legacy and the retail industry (mid-1980s).
- Home Decor Products Press Release, “Home Decor Products Relaunches Hechinger.com” (2004).
