Matt Hillebrand along with his four brothers, Tim, Terry, Jason, and Nick, are proud owners of Don’s Appliances, founded by their father, Don, in 1971. At the company’s inception, Don Hillebrand worked with one other employee selling appliances from a showroom in Upper St. Clair servicing, delivering and installing appliances by day and selling in the evening. In 1985 Don’s sons began working for the business and took over in the early 2000s. Today, more than 46 years later, Don’s Appliances has expanded to 10 showrooms, 45,000 sq. ft. of showroom space, 90,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space 170 employees and product categories ranging from kitchen and bathroom fixtures, YETI, grills, vacuums and of course— appliances!
Sales was a natural fit for Matt Hillebrand with his competitive nature and ability to cultivate and maintain relationships. A Westminster alumni, Matt majored in Political Science with minors in Economics and History. His love for people and his ability to educate and provide solutions has proven instrumental in his success in appliance sales throughout the years. Now, Matt and his outside sales team focus on institutional, multi-family and property management sales with a wide array of companies in Pittsburgh like Chatham University, Walnut Capital, Heinz Field, PPG Paints Arena, PNC Park, the University of Pittsburgh and Piatt Sotheby’s condominium project, Lumiere.
Matt’s affinity for the competition isn’t just seen on the appliance sales floor, he brings the same amount of enthusiasm and drive to the field at Schenley park oval each year to benefit the Special Olympics UNcathlon. As a Founding Council Member, Matt holds a spot on the planning committee and encourages Don’s Appliances employees to participate in the track and field events which raised over $100,000 this year for the Special Olympics of PA.
In addition to Matt’s dedication to the Special Olympics, Don’s Appliances as a whole is committed to philanthropy. Many non-profits, clubs, youth sports teams, community event organizations, and religious institutions rely on Don’s Appliances for support. It is ingrained into their mission statement and culture— they all “live, work and volunteer in the community.” They offer support in the form of monetary and in-kind donations, sponsorships, free products, cooking demonstrations and dinners with their Executive Chef and volunteering man-hours. In 2018 their employees volunteered 165 hours and donated close to $13,000 out of their own pockets. Don’s Appliances has close relationships with Children’s Hospital Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Cameron Heyward Foundation, the American Cancer Society in addition to the Special Olympics of PA.
It’s because of Matt and his brothers’ dedication to hard work and the community that Don’s Appliances have been recognized as one of the Smart 50, Twice Magazine’s ‘Top 100 Companies to
Watch’, and has won Post Gazette’s Top Workplace 5 years in a row as well as several other awards. Don’s Appliances is “large enough to offer competitive pricing, yet small enough to continue offering the white glove service we were founded on, our focus is always on the customer experience, from the first step into a showroom to purchase and well after our product has been installed.”
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