During his last years of first-class cricket with Northern Districts, Hart earned an accounting degree from Waikato University. When he stopped playing, he set his sights on owning a supermarket.
He approached Foodstuffs, which owns the Four Square, New World and Pak 'N Save brands. But before taking the financial plunge, he decided he needed to get to grips with the less glamorous aspects of the industry.
"I spent 18 months at the Tauranga Pak 'N Save as an employee, filling shelves, marking off orders, just learning all the basics," he says.
Hart kept himself motivated by focusing on his long-term goal, but it was a humbling experience for a former international athlete.
"For a while there, I was not fully comfortable that I was a sportsman filling shelves. I had a guy that I knew reasonably well through cricket walk down [the] aisle I was filling. [He] looked a bit embarrassed and turned around and walked away. That was an eye-opener."
Hart didn't let the experience get to him. He went on to buy a Four Square store, and he and his wife Sheree now own and run Matamata New World.
"We've been in this store nearly two years," he says. "The first year was long hours and a lot of work, but most of it I really enjoyed. It's not hard to get up and come to work."
That's fortunate, because the long days can be demanding.
"I'm at work six mornings a week about five o'clock. I help out on the floor till about 8.30 getting the day set up. Once the doors are open and the phones are ringing, my day is sucked up by all sorts of stuff.
"But I start off on the floor. I like being involved with the team - filling the shelves, organising, helping. I think the team appreciates it when the boss is helping them."
Hart had a truncated international career, playing just 14 tests and 13 one-day internationals, but he plied his trade in domestic cricket for 15 years until 2005. By that time, he was ready for something new.
"Part way through my last season, it kind of hit me that I wanted to move on," he says.
"I'd had a lot of years playing, training and travel. I was ready for another challenge, so it wasn't hard walking away."
Hart and Sheree love life in Matamata with their two young children, who have quickly learned their way around the supermarket.
"They come in here and get in the way sometimes," Hart laughs. "They don't know it yet but their time will come - they'll be working here in no time."
