Focus on Leadership: Drew Hash is passionate about moving the needle in the flooring industry – Jan 2024

Interview by Kemp Harr

This month marks Drew Hash’s first full year as CEO of Southwind Building Products. Drew has spent his entire career in the flooring industry, beginning just after graduation from the University of North Alabama with a family-owned flooring business and then joining the manufacturing side with Hartco in 1995.

Southwind, acquired by Tom Sullivan’s F9 Brands in May 2021, began as a carpet manufacturer and has built out its offering with sourced LVT and WPC. It will soon add engineered hardwood to its line as well.
Drew lives with his wife, Missy, in Dalton, Georgia. The couple share two grown children.

Q: How did you end up in the hardwood flooring business right after college?
A: I earned my commission while in college and spent 12 months on active duty. During that time, my first roommate from college encouraged me to come join his family’s flooring business in Columbus, Georgia. From there, I had exposure to many distributor and mill reps. One of them, Johnson Wholesale, took a chance on me and placed me in Birmingham as a territory manager. I had only been there for a brief time when I was encouraged to interview for Hartco’s district manager position in Atlanta.

Q: At several junctures in your career, you chose small, family-run businesses, which were then acquired by larger companies while you were part of them. Tell us about the Hartco transition.
A: When I joined Hartco, it was owned by a group at that time known as Premark. We were one of the two flooring businesses they owned, the other being Florida Tile. It was no secret that Premark was unhappy with our business and our performance, and they began “shopping” the business.

At the time Bruce and Hartco were the leading brands in the hardwood business, and Bruce/Triangle Pacific bought Hartco. I’ll admit, being bought by our number one competitor was a humbling experience. That said, soon after, Chris Thompson gave me an opportunity of a lifetime, which was to run sales for Hartco. That meant a move to Dallas and Triangle Pacific’s headquarters. Talk about a difficult initial move: walking into a building full of people whose ambition prior to the acquisition was to take your business.

I learned to adapt to the situation and began to learn so much from Chris, Floyd Sherman, Melvin Burkhardt and many others. Soon after, we acquired Robbins Hardwood, then the number three supplier, which made for the strongest portfolio in hardwood flooring. It was an amazing time. The company had clear objectives, and the leadership created plenty of urgency to meet or exceed our business plan goals each quarter. No vacations were taken on the last week of a quarter, but we were known to interrupt many of our customers’ vacations to offer quarter-end specials/opportunities.

Q: You were also with Triangle Pacific when it was acquired by Armstrong. How did that impact your role?
A: Armstrong left the Triangle Pacific business alone for a couple of years but eventually decided to consolidate things to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Only six of us moved to Lancaster, and, as with Triangle Pacific, it was another opportunity for me to move as a part of the acquired group. The guys that built Triangle were not part of the six, thus all that experience and knowledge was lost, and I do not think the business was ever the same.

Armstrong’s asbestos bankruptcy complicated things further. While it insulated the company, it had the unintended consequence of stifling the ability to build something for the future. We were literally in a bubble. One interesting thing happened during that time for me; Robbins had a unique financing deal with a small distributor in Florida. That business went into bankruptcy and was bought on the courthouse steps by a gentleman named Bodie Bodenheimer.

Bodie still wanted to distribute Robbins Hardwood, and we worked out a plan for his new company to continue to represent the line. Bodie was an extremely interesting and accomplished man. Talk about executive presence-he was a retired brigadier general, retired president of one of the largest banks in North Carolina and the owner of Zickgraf Hardwood in Franklin, North Carolina. He was 75 when we met, but he still had a lot of fight in his belly. He would drive every Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. to his home in Greensboro, North Carolina and then return Sunday afternoon-eight hours round trip.

He talked me into leaving Armstrong and joining his company. I left my posh office on the campus of Armstrong for literally a trailer on the grounds of our lumber yard. While it was different, I so enjoyed the new organization and the change of pace. It was my first time to be involved directly in operations, and I split my time between our two plants and customer visits.

I made a lot of mistakes-one was growing too fast. We more than tripled the business in three years. Our facilities operated 24/6, and we pulled maintenance on Sundays. This worked for a little while, but our people began to get tired, machines began to break down and, thus, safety and quality began to slip. We needed help, and we were fortunate that Shaw wanted to buy a solid flooring business to complement the recent acquisition of Anderson. The timing was also good because it happened in the summer of 2008, right before the financial crisis hit in full.

We went from our small leadership group in Franklin to leaders of 26 functional areas from Shaw inside our building the day after the deal was closed. Shaw brought everything we needed to be successful. It gave us access to an amazing leadership team, which, like the team at Triangle Pacific, was comprised of long-term flooring people. I was fortunate to work and learn from Scott Sandlin, and he graciously gave me access to leaders like Vance Bell, Randy Merritt, Hal Long, Mickey Long, Tim Baucom and Jeff Sills. All these men are true titans of our industry, and I got to interact with them on a daily basis.

Scott had a vision of building a hard surface business that would mirror our carpet business. I would love to tell you that early on we were the darling of the organization, but that was not the case. It was a tough few years, but Scott ultimately brought to the management team an opportunity that would change Shaw forever.

Against a lot of resistance, Scott talked the leaders into getting into the vinyl business, first as the distributor of LG’s commercial offering but also sheet goods from IVC across town. I remember those initial launch meetings-it was so difficult to get folks in the organization to attend. Things changed soon after we got going, and over time, we launched dryback, looselay, click LVT, WPC and SPC.

Along the way, I would constantly remind our team they were part of something that happens once in a career because our business literally began to explode. That was accelerated when Tim Baucom talked Piet Dossche into selling USFloors and Coretec to Shaw. Who would have ever believed, competing with companies that had been in the vinyl space for 100+ years, that Shaw, in less than ten years, would be the largest provider of vinyl to the U.S. market? It was an amazing ride and a lot of fun!

Q: What attracted you to the small, family-run businesses versus the larger corporate jobs?
A: I loved my days at Zickgraf and, now, Southwind where we can get a few people in a room and make decisions. That said, larger companies bring you support and structure. I hope we are finding a good balance here at Southwind.

Q: When I first met you, I could tell you had sawdust running through your veins, but at Shaw you shifted your focus to lookalike products. Tell us about that.
A: Ultimately, you need to provide what the customer wants. Having internal manufacturing does bring advantages to the organization but also potentially disadvantages. My first trips overseas were such eye-openers. They made me challenge a lot of how I thought about manufacturing and product plans. I met entrepreneurs like Mr. Yuan at Huali and Mr. Li at Kentier, who had an amazing work ethic and an immense desire to win. Their plants were designed so that they could incorporate new innovations quickly into their manufacturing process. I was accustomed to U.S. plants, which are traditionally less flexible, with most operators more concerned with throughput of what they can currently make than creating and building products that customers want and desire.

Q: Southwind today is focused on carpet and LVT, but you told me you were planning to add engineered hardwood. What is driving that decision?
A: Well, you already mentioned sawdust in my veins. We have customers who want to buy more from us, and hardwood fits nicely into our assortment. We will start slowly with a basic offering and hopefully grow from there. It is a new category for our team and selling hardwood requires more technical expertise than our current categories.

Q: What is it that attracts your dealers to want to buy from Southwind versus the bigger suppliers?
A: Retailers want choices, and we offer another opportunity for them. We have three things that we stress on every retailer call. First, delivered pricing on all palletized goods. Second, discount payment terms for both hard and soft surfaces. Finally, our RSA rewards program, “Windfall Rewards.”

Unlike most of our competitors, Southwind did not add any surcharges during the freight crisis in 2022, nor do we today. When we quote a price on any palletized product, we do not have any line items on our invoice for surcharges or delivery fees. The advantage to our customers is they can effectively price their floor and not worry about any hidden charges that might be added to their mill invoice that would have a negative impact on their gross margins.

In addition, we have added discount terms for advance payment while others have taken those discounts away. And finally, our RSA incentive program is the industry’s most lucrative because our incentives are based on the actual retail price to the consumer and not the mill invoice.

Q: You work for a company that rapidly grew under the leadership of Randy Hatch and Richard Abramowicz. Why is Southwind a good fit for you?
A: When Jason Delves approached me to join the organization, it seemed like a perfect fit. Jason and I knew each other for many years when he was running Piedmont/BLC/Beasley Hardwood. The two most senior leaders here at Southwind are past colleagues. Kim Colquette-who has operations, sourcing and compliance-worked with me in a similar capacity at Shaw. Randy Lovelace-who is our sales lead-held the same role while I was at Zickgraf. We all know and complement each other very well and understand each of our strengths and weaknesses. That was the biggest reason for coming.

In addition, the company had a strong following and great reputation within the retail community.

Q: It is no secret that you are owned by Tom Sullivan’s F9 Brands. How engaged are they in your business?
A: F9 operates like a traditional private equity, and, thus, they support us in any way. Ultimately though, we operate as a stand-alone operation within the F9 group of companies.

Q: Who are your mentors, and what did they teach you?
A: I have already mentioned several business mentors, but I have others that have impacted my career greatly. Andy Deaton, who was the vice president of sales for Johnson Wholesale, loved to make the buy and then put maximum pressure on his team to execute that buy. He was relentless. Ron Parkinson and Harry Baker at Hartco brought structure and professionalism. Floyd Sherman was an incredible operator but also a real visionary. He was the force behind the explosion of hardwood in the late ’80s and ’90s.

I learned a lot from Chris Thompson, but one thing in particular was to trust your team. Scott Sandlin gave me the opportunity to succeed at Shaw and taught me how to have a deep passion for the customer. Hal Long explained how I would only be successful at Shaw if I learned how to influence others and try not to do it all myself. I think about the many interactions with other industry titans that have helped me grow into who I am today: Maybank Haygood, Don Rado, Lee Marston, Don Wohlfarth, Dick Walters, Al Hurt, Bob Weiss, Bob Nygaard, Don Johnson, Chip Siegel, Pierre Thabet, Tommy Maxwell, Jack Adleta, Jim Funsten, Hoy Lanning, Wade Cassidy-I could go on and on naming people who have greatly influenced my career.

Q: From personal experience, you always seem to know the answers to my questions and your demeanor is calm and collected. Where did you get those character traits?
A: Well, the folks closest to me may have a different opinion than yours. I do try my best to anticipate what someone may ask in an interview or meeting. I always try to put myself in their shoes and think about what I would ask.

Q: What do you look for when you are selecting teammates to help you achieve your goals?
A: I have been fortunate to work on great teams. Ultimately, the really good ones have a deep passion for the customer. I want to work alongside people who are goal-oriented, solution-minded and understand we must meet or exceed the plans we develop.

Q: What is the best strategy to make sure price is not the most important component in a purchasing decision?
A: On the sourcing side, it’s important to set expectations with suppliers and lead with quality. Suppliers will know what you value by your words and actions. Regular product testing, sharing test results, setting expectations and talking about quality in every discussion will send a powerful message.

The same mindsight is critical in our carpet manufacturing. Our employees value our customers and are proud of the product that we make here at Southwind. We have a long history of making high-quality carpet, and that is not going to change.

To our customers we want to be known for having innovative, high-quality, well-styled products that are competitively priced and delivered/serviced on time. I firmly believe if we do that we won’t need to lead with price.

Q: What would you say is your secret to success?
A: Four things come to mind. First, I have been fortunate to have been at the right place at the right time, and people gave me opportunities that, in some cases, I may not have deserved, but they gave me the chance. Next, I have a deep love and passion for this industry…hopefully people feel my passion when they are with me. I try to have a “golden rule” mindset in any situation. And finally, the Adleta guys taught me if you want to have fun on a work night, you must be able “to ring the bell” the next morning.

Q: How do you balance your work demands with the other important components of your life?
A: I’m very fortunate to have a wife of 32 years and two grown children. Nothing brings me more pleasure than when we are all together.

Q: What do you do for fun when you are not focused on expanding Southwind’s business?
A: I love college football, especially going to games with my old North Alabama teammates, and I appreciate any chance that I can be in the north Georgia mountains.

Copyright 2024 Floor Focus

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