CNRG Acquires 14 Midwest Mac’s Hardware Stores

The Central Network Retail Group (CNRG) will acquire 14 Mac’s Hardware locations throughout the Midwest, it confirms in a press release.

Mac’s Hardware employs roughly 200 employees in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. The business was established in 1965 by Otto McWethy, and focused on selling surplus goods to customers.

Chuck McWethy, Otto’s grandson and shareholder and chairman of Mac’s Hardware, says the acquisition provides future opportunities to expand Mac’s footprint and better serve customers.

“Unique product selection and attention to the needs of the local, agricultural-based communities where we operate have been the hallmarks of Mac’s success for more than 50 years,” McWethy says. “CNRG has the financial strength to sustain and expand our business in the future and we believe this combination will be a tremendous benefit to our customer base.”

Under the agreement, Mac’s Hardware stores will continue to operate under their existing brand name and all current employees are eligible to continue working at the 14 locations, the companies say.

John Sieggreen, president of CNRG, says the company is excited to expand into the upper Midwest. To learn more about the connection between CNRG and Orgill, Inc., read this Q&A with Ron Beal, Orgill’s president, CEO and chairman.

“We are looking forward to bringing the possibility of expansion to the Mac’s brand,” he says. “This partnership with Mac’s Hardware takes CNRG over the century mark in store count. We are very pleased with what we have been able to accomplish in the last seven years since CNRG was founded and look forward to continued growth.”