In the family
HKS Hardware owner carries on tradition of keeping customers happy
By Ann Piccininni
Started in August of 1989, HKS Hardware, 302 Pine St. in Yadkinville, has been serving as a
“Value Added” distributor of commercial material, such as hollow metal frames, architectural
wood doors, finish hardware, toilet accessories, flag poles, fire extinguishers and fire extinguisher
cabinets for construction projects both large and small. HKS is a Warnock Hersey fire label shop, which
allows it to modify and fire rate products for commercial projects.
“It was founded in 1989 by my dad, Steve Hauser,” owner Josh Hauser said. “He had two
additional partners, the late Linda Stanford, and Terry Krebs who has retired. Their goal, and still the
company’s motto, was to ‘Keep the customer happy.’ This was to be done through
outstanding service and honesty to our customers. I’ve been running the show for about 10 years
now. We’re a commercial distributor. We sell primarily to contractors through bid work. Most of
our material is commercial grade.”
While HKS is open to the public, the company’s primary business is transacted with general
contractors of retail spaces, homes, hotels, grocery stores, offices, medical facilities and other
commercial building projects.
“We’re considered hardware distributors. We’re considered a mid-sized business. There
are probably about 30 similarly-sized hardware distributors in North Carolina,” Hauser said.
The company serves the needs of General Contractors both within the state and beyond. Most customers
are located in larger cities such as Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Raleigh.
“We ship all over the country, to 42 states,” he said.
Hauser said the company works with manufacturers throughout the United States.
“We follow our contractors and try to competitively bid. We do a lot of installations as
well,” he said.
Hauser said HKS moved to Yadkinville about a year ago from its original location in East Bend, a change
that resulted in increased warehouse and office suite space.
“We needed more space,” Hauser said. “My father and I wanted to stay in Yadkin County
because the county had been so good to us. We tried hard to stay in East Bend, even bought a piece of
land and developed floor plans. Covid hit, inflation hit, and the new building didn’t make
financial sense. Bobby Todd worked diligently trying to find us a new space in Yadkin County. Bobby is
one of a kind. Ultimately, an old friend heard I was still looking, called me to say, ‘Hey, I have
a building in Yadkinville.’ We took a tour in November 2024, and with the help of Omega
Construction, were able to move into our new space in February of 2025.
“We moved in and renovated it. The former location was 15,000 square feet. Our new location,
which once housed the Sara Lee company, measures about 60,000 square feet. About 13,000 square feet of
that is office space while the rest is warehouse space. We’re very service oriented. We got this
building so we could serve our customers better.”
Hauser said the company currently employs 23 workers. The team includes estimators (Eddie Clemons
– lead, Kyle Schaaf, Tyler Pittman, Kimberly Jessup), end user sales (Jeff Schaaf, Russel Tesh
– Locksmith), project managers (Taylor Hauser, Jerri Amick, Shaun Cockerham – Vice
President, Donna Masker, Misty Thompson – Remote from Greenville, NC), warehouse manager (Tucker
Hauser), hardware manager (Curt Childress), and Lock Smiths (Michael Hall, Russell Tesh), along with
warehouse staff (Robby Ball – Door Shop, Quality Control) and accounting (Kearstan Robertson
– Receivables, Laura Hauser – HR/Payables), Chad Greene – CFO. Eighty-five percent of
the HKS employees live in Yadkin County.
The company’s delivery fleet includes two box trucks and a flatbed truck.
To keep order fulfillment on track, the company uses special software specifically designed for
hardware distribution. Hauser, 50, said he helped the company computerize its records and data beginning
in 1999 when he first joined the company under the direction of his late father, foreseeing the need to
streamline and organize as the business grew.
His current team includes his twin 24-year-old nephews, Tucker and Taylor Hauser.
“They’ll probably take over for me one day,” he said. “We will be transitioning
them into leadership roles.”
The current staff also includes Shaun Cockerham, who started with HKS in 1998.
“He started off working here right after high school as a delivery driver. Shaun has worked in
every position at HKS other than accounting. He’s still one of our best sales guys. He’s my
right-hand man,” Hauser said.
Hauser said his wife Laura recently launched her own business, Five Star Installations LLC., as a
complement to HKS Hardware. The business offers installations for materials-only suppliers.
“We’re very service oriented. We got this building so we could serve our customers
better.”
Josh Hauser
Owner HKS Hardware & Hollow Metal, Inc.
