Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
Germantown Hardware, located in Germantown, Tennessee, welcomed members of the local community to celebrate its grand reopening in April, with events that included a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a tour with city officials and a customer celebration.
The grand reopening not only marked a milestone for the growth of the store, but it was also the culmination of a major retail enhancement project for Orgill, Central Network Retail Group (CNRG) and Tyndale Advisors, a management, consulting and marketing firm that primarily serves Orgill dealers.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on April 12, and local Orgill team members toured the store on April 24 alongside local officials, including Janie Day, CEO and president of the Germantown Chamber of Commerce, and Mike Palazzolo, the mayor of Germantown.
New Ownership
John, Marcia, and Justin Wagner, the former owners and operators of Germantown Hardware, agreed to sell their business and operating assets in 2020 to CNRG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Orgill and a multi-format, multi-brand retailer currently operating 140 hardware stores, home centers and lumberyards in 16 states.
The Wagners had purchased the former Ace Hardware location in 2001. Under their ownership, Germantown Hardware offered a full assortment of hardware, plumbing, electrical, outdoor power equipment and outdoor living products and lawn and garden supplies. It also featured a small engine repair shop.
“We had always thought that it would be ideal to have a CNRG location in the Memphis area, and Germantown Hardware offered us this opportunity,” says John Sieggreen, CNRG president and executive vice president of retail at Orgill. “The store had a great reputation with local customers and was a staple of the local community and being in close proximity to Orgill’s headquarters and our concept center, it allows us much better access to the site. This also makes it easier for us to use it as a showcase for when we want to illustrate our range of programs and services to visitors.”
A Remodel and Expanded Selection
After CNRG acquired Germantown Hardware, the store underwent a remodel and expansion project overseen by team members of Orgill, CNRG and Tyndale Advisors that began in April 2021. The store’s footprint was expanded to almost 42,000 square feet, which is 75 percent larger than before the remodel.
Germantown Hardware’s salesfloor size also increased by more than 50 percent to 23,000 square feet, and 12,000 new products were added to the store’s offerings.
Two departments, the nursery and small engine repair shop, both doubled in size. The nursery now takes up 10,000 square feet with an outdoor checkout area added for better customer ease of service.
Featured new product assortments include:
– Automotive key fobs and chip keys
– RV supplies
– Pool supplies
– Pet supplies
– Birding
– Vintage sodas
– Outdoor pottery and statuary
– Indoor plants
– Outdoor patio furniture
– Rental department
– Benjamin Moore and Valspar paints
Featured new and expanded services include:
– Germantown Hardware Rewards loyalty program
– Integrated eCommerce website and buy online, pickup in store
– Small engine repair expansion
– Outdoor/nursery checkout
– Bulk propane refill
Innovative Retail Concepts
CNRG made the most of programs offered through Orgill when revamping the store’s retail technology. Orgill services that were integrated into the relaunch of Germantown Hardware include its Integrated eCommerce, FanBuilder and BrandBase programs.
The Germantown Hardware store website was reconfigured using Orgill’s Integrated eCommerce solution, which integrates with the store’s POS system and offers real-time item information, store prices and on-hand quantities. The technology made it possible for Germantown Hardware to offer customers options to buy online and pick up in store and expand the number of products the store could offer by utilizing Orgill’s vast online product database.
Germantown Hardware also uses a customized version of Orgill’s FanBuilder platform to drive its new customer loyalty program, Germantown Hardware Rewards. More than just a loyalty program, the platform offers marketing tools and helps to drive customer engagement and traffic to the store’s website.
Orgill’s proprietary Brandbase marketing software is also used for producing Germantown Hardware ads and marketing assets.
“This is a perfect example of how our CNRG brand stores can serve as a living retail laboratory where we can implement real-world Orgill programs and then provide in-depth feedback and test options with them to help improve the program for all Orgill’s customers,” Sieggreen says. “That will definitely be the case with what we are doing at Germantown Hardware.”
A Real-World Laboratory
According to Phillip Walker, president of Tyndale Advisors, Germantown Hardware truly is a showplace and example for other stores.
Located within miles of Orgill’s headquarters, the store presented an opportunity to bring all of Orgill and Tyndale Advisors’ resources and people together on one project.
“Everyone could easily visit and lend their expertise on how to mold it into this model of what a community hardware store could be,” he says. “It’s a great representation of what both Tyndale Advisors and Orgill have to offer to our customer base. When customers or prospects come to Orgill, we can now take them to a local store and show them our retail recommendations in action. This store is proof that we’re not just suggesting these changes—we are putting them into action in a real-world retail environment because they work.”
A Staple of the Community
The investment in the store remodel and expansion was not only an investment in Germantown Hardware but also in the community.
Customer reactions when touring the newly remodeled store included appreciation for the expanded product and category selection—along with astonishment that this was the same neighborhood store they had shopped previously.
“Now customers see Germantown Hardware as a place where they can get everything they want without having to go to a big-box store,” Sieggreen says. “They’re grateful for that local option with enough assortments, and a broad enough assortment, to be able to support all of their shopping needs.”
“There’s so much to be said about the welcome arms from the community,” says Chris Clark, Germantown Hardware store manager. “We want Germantown Hardware to continue to feel and look like their neighborhood store—just new and improved.”
About Orgill
Orgill, the industry’s fastest-growing hardlines distributor, was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Collierville, Tennessee. Orgill serves more than 12,000 retail hardware stores, home centers, professional lumber dealers and farm stores throughout the U.S. and Canada, and in over 50 countries around the world.
About CNRG
Central Network Retail Group (CNRG), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Orgill, is a multi-format, multi-brand retailer operating 140 hardware stores, home centers, and lumberyards throughout 16 states across the U.S. The company name reflects the commitment of operating different businesses through a central network. The more commonly used acronym of the company name, CNRG, is also a reminder of the company’s commitment to creating synergies throughout their portfolio of companies. CNRG often helps companies that face the challenges of succession planning and/or generational transfer of ownership.
