Discount tool and equipment retailer Harbor Freight will open its first retail location in Oxford in 2021.  

The well-known national chain will hire approximately 30 local individuals to staff the store when it opens early next year in a newly constructed building at 2128 Jackson Ave.  

The family-owned company based in Calabasas, Calif. opened its first retail location in 1980, after owner and CEO Eric Smidt began changing his father’s small phone sales business into a mail-order company at age 17. It now has more than 1,100 stores across the country and employs more than 21,000. Harbor Freight offers more than 7,000 tools and accessories at “quality levels that match or exceed competing brands, but at prices that are up to 80 percent less.”  

Harbor Freight officials say the company will add up to 600 new tools and accessories to its product offerings this year, and continue to open new stores weekly. The company reports its worth at $3.5 billion with a projected growth to $7.5 billion over the next few years. Oxford joins communities in Pennsylvania, Idaho, California and Nevada with stores under construction. According to Harbor Freight, construction is being completed by local companies and workers. 

 “We’ve been looking to open a location in Oxford for a number of years so that we can provide the tools and equipment at tremendous values to the community,” Trey Feiler, Senior Vice President, Real Estate and Construction for Harbor Freight Tools said via a company press release. “In addition to finding a great location, we were attracted by the availability of great associates in the Oxford area, and we look forward to having them join the Harbor Freight team.”  

Harbor Freight officials say the company will hire between 25 and 30 workers to positions including logistics supervisors, senior associates, sales associations and will offer seasonal opportunities. Currently there are four job types listed on its website for Oxford. These include fulltime retail stocking supervisor and retail sales supervisor positions, and parttime retail sales associate and retail stocking associate jobs. Jobs are open to applicants with the equivalent of a high school diploma or GED. The company advertises that associates will have Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays off and offers employees a “best-in-class” benefits package that includes access to “robust” health insurance as well as competitive starting pay rates, “stability and opportunity to advance.” For more information and to apply visit www.harborfreightjobs.com/retail and search “Oxford, MS.” Its company website lists approximately 3,000 open jobs nationwide.  

Harbor Freight Tools also offers funding support to nonprofit 501c3 organizations that serve K-12 public education, veterans and fire and police departments. Harbor Freight also supports disaster relief efforts and offers to match up to $250 in funds per associate per event for community fundraising efforts for 501c3s.  

The Harbor Freight Tools for Schools exclusively supports the advancement of skilled trades education in America through the donation of tools to training programs as well as cash awards for public high school teachers and their programs. The company released its list of 2020 prize winners earlier this month with 18 schools across the nation receiving a total of $1 million in prizes. See HarborFreightToolsForSchools.org for more details and teaching resources.