t. hackney company type privately held company industry wholesale founded 1891 1 founder henry tate hackney 2 headquarters knoxville tennessee united states area served eastern united states key people william sansom chairman and ceo michael morton cfo leonard robinette vice president of administration 3 bruce pearl vice president of marketing 4 products grocery items snack foods tobacco products oil beverages revenue us 3.6 billion fy 2010 5 number of employees 3 400 6 subsidiaries holland house furniture natural springs water group llc uncle ray s great american deli neuro fuel 7 website www.hthackney.com the h. t. hackney company is an american wholesale grocery distribution firm headquartered in knoxville tennessee . founded in 1891 the company has grown over the years to become one of the largest grocery wholesalers in the nation with operations covering much of the eastern united states . 5 h. t. hackney employs over 3 400 people 6 and distributes over 30 000 different items to over 20 000 locations in 21 states . 3 its current chairman and ceo is william p. sansom . 6 contents 1 history 2 products and services 3 subsidiaries 4 financial information 5 references 6 external links history edit the h. t. hackney company is rooted in a feed and grain business established by henry tate hackney and w. c. everett in 1887 which operated out of a stall on market square in knoxville . 2 8 in 1891 hackney bought everett s stake and overhauled the company into a full scale jobbing house . 2 the company thrived during the 1890s amidst knoxville s late 19th century economic boom which saw the city s wholesaling sector grow to become the third largest in the south . h. t. hackney was just one of more than 50 wholesaling companies operating in the city during this period . 9 the h. t. hackney company incorporated on october 1 1897 . 2 following henry tate hackney s death in 1899 his brother in law benjamin morton 1875 1952 became president of the company . 2 in 1905 h. t. hackney merged with a powerful knoxville wholesaler m. l. ross and company which was then under control of william cary ross the son of m. l. ross and a friend of morton . 9 in subsequent years morton ross and iron manufacturer hugh sanford formed an influential triumvirate known as the three musketeers which controlled a significant portion of the city s business activity in the 1910s and 1920s . 2 morton served as mayor of knoxville from 1923 to 1927 . 2 under morton s leadership h. t. hackney continued to expand its holdings . at one point the company operated coal mines at jellico and an automobile subsidiary the h. t. hackney vehicle company 10 and distributed products such as candy blasting powder industrial equipment furniture oil produce and saddles . 2 this diversification helped the company survive the collapse of knoxville s wholesaling sector 9 which brought the closures of numerous decades old firms such as cowan mcclung and company . 11 morton was succeeded by his son julian who ran the company until his death in 1972 . 2 c. e. harris a long time associate of the mortons was chairman and ceo of h. t. hackney from 1972 until 1982 . 2 in 1975 under harris s leadership the company greatly expanded its sales volume with the acquisition of the jellico grocery company which owned warehouses in harlan middlesboro somerset and corbin in kentucky and oneida and elizabethton in tennessee . 2 bill sansom has been chairman and ceo of h. t. hackney since 1983 . 12 during his tenure the company has continued to expand acquiring two subsidiaries furniture maker holland house and bottled water manufacturer natural springs water . 3 in 2003 the company purchased two convenience store distribution subsidiaries l & l jiroch company and j. f. walker company from the michigan based wholesaler spartan stores . 13 in 2005 h. t. hackney closed its knoxville warehouse and moved its knoxville area distribution operations to a new 300 000 square foot facility located along interstate 40 in adjacent roane county 14 though the company is still headquartered at the fidelity building in downtown knoxville . on august 30 2011 h. t. hackney hired former university of tennessee basketball coach bruce pearl as its vice president of marketing . 4 in september 2011 h. t. hackney launched a new furniture manufacturing subsidiary h.home . this new subsidiary operates factories in bean station tennessee and athens tennessee and its products include upholstery living room furniture recliners and sofas . 15 products and services edit the h. t. hackney company distributes over 30 000 different products to over 20 000 retail locations in 21 states . 3 products include frozen food baked goods candy snack foods tobacco cosmetics and deli items 3 and its major trading partners include general mills kraft valvoline procter & gamble and kellogg s. 1 retailers serviced by h. t. hackney include convenience stores drug stores travel centers and small grocery stores . 3 the company distributes products through a network of 28 distribution centers across 10 states ranging as far north as grand rapids michigan and as far south as miami florida . 1 subsidiaries edit the company s subsidiaries include indianapolis based holland house furniture which manufactures dining room suites bedroom furniture and rocking chairs 16 johnson city based natural springs water which produces bottled water and detroit based uncle ray s snack foods . 3 financial information edit in 2012 h. t. hackney had 3.8 billion in estimated sales . according to forbes it is the nation s 82nd largest privately held company . 6 references edit a b c h. t. hackney official website . retrieved 28 august 2011 . a b c d e f g h i j k william macarthur knoxville crossroads of the new south tulsa okla. continental heritage press 1982 p. 167 . a b c d e f g company profiles the h. t. hackney company hoovers 2010 . retrieved 28 august 2011 . a b pearl taking marketing job with h.t. hackney knoxville news sentinel 30 august 2011 . retrieved 30 august 2011 . a b debra chanil top 25 wholesalers convenience store news 2011 . retrieved 28 august 2011 . a b c d ht hackney on the forbes america s largest private companies list . forbes . retrieved october 18 2013 . about us subsidiaries corporate website jack neely market square a history of the most democratic place on earth knoxville tenn. market square district association 2009 p. 83 . a b c william macarthur lucile deaderick ed . knoxville s history an interpretation heart of the valley a history of knoxville tennessee knoxville tenn. east tennessee historical society 1982 pp. 46 52 . news of the trade new firms and corporations the automobile manufacturer vol . 50 january 1909 p. 370 . nissa dahlin brown national register of historic places nomination form for cowan mcclung and company building may 1984 . tennessee valley authority board members . retrieved 29 august 2011 . spartan stores reaches agreements to sell convenience distribution subsidiaries l & l jiroch and j.f. walker spartanstores.com 8 may 2003 . retrieved 29 august 2011 . rebecca ferrar h.t. hackney settling in to its roane address knoxville news sentinel 9 march 2005 . john huotari hackney making major push into furniture production knoxville news sentinel 3 october 2011 . retrieved 5 october 2011 . holland house furniture about us . retrieved 29 august 2011 . external links edit the h. t. hackney company official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title h. t. hackney company & oldid 727412168 categories wholesalers of the united statesprivately held companies based in tennesseeprivately held companies in the united statescompanies established in 1891companies based in knoxville tennesseehidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 28 june 2016 at 20 35 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view