Germantown Hardware a 'showcase store' for parent company Orgill

General Contractor: Grinder, Taber & Grinder, Inc.

By Susan Ellis – Projects Editor, Memphis Business Journal, Apr 18, 2022, 11:21pm EDT

"This store had been an integral part of the Germantown community," said John Sieggreen — CNRG's president and EVP of retail — of Germantown Hardware. "It's considered to be the local hardware store. We want it to still be the local hardware store."

Some background here: CNRG is Central Network Retail Group, the retail arm of the Collierville-based hardware distributor Orgill. CNRG took ownership of Germantown Hardware, located at 2083 S. Germantown Road, from the John Wagner family in 2020. In 2021, CNRG began an extensive expansion and remodeling of the store. A ribbon-cutting of the store was held on April 12.

Orgill recently celebrated its 175th anniversary and hit $3 billion in sales in 2020. It serves some 11,000 stores in North America, including hardware stores, home centers, pro dealers, building material retailers, and farm stores.

Sieggreen said that CNRG has grown by acquiring what he said are "legacy" businesses, with 140 retail stores around the country, organized into 18 different brands.

Germantown Hardware, before its expansion, was around 14,000 square feet. The sales floor now is 23,000 square feet. This was accomplished by taking over a nearby pool store and a car wash. The nursery was greatly expanded as well, from 3,900 square feet to 10,162 square feet, and the product line increased by 38%.

"We expanded all the core hardware departments," said Phillip Walker, president of Tyndale — another subsidiary of Orgill. "This store had become a fixture within the community for outdoor living — grills, outdoor power. We took that strength, and we expanded upon that."

Among the new features are a vintage soda line, Ben Moore and Valspar paints, pool and pet supplies, auto key FOBs, and outdoor statuary. They've also expanded their small engine repair and instituted a buy-online-pickup-in-store service.

The store employs 40, including part-time workers. One employee has worked at Germantown Hardware for 18 years; another is nearly 90 years old and mans the service desk a few days a week.

Sieggreen sees Germantown Hardware as a model store, a place where Orgill can show interested parties what it's capable of.

Sieggreen said that when CNRG had taken over existing stores in the past, they typically looked to establish multiple stores. But, Germantown Hardware was special.

"It's a showcase store," he said. "Whether it's our sales team or our purchasing team, they can come here [and] bring customers. We could bring our suppliers and talk about concepts here locally. We didn't have that available to us. So, this was really an opportunity for us."

The grand reopening of Germantown Hardware is April 23, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.