CNRG’s Blueprint Blends Local Brands into a National Network
Right: Craig Cowart, chief operating officer of CNRG
In an exclusive interview, Hardware Connection talked with John Sieggreen, executive vice president of retail at Orgill and president of Central Network Retail Group (CNRG) along with Craig Cowart, chief operating officer of CNRG. The discussion touched on CNRG’s future, the ever-evolving role of technology in retail operations, creating a successful corporate culture, and many other topics.
Sieggreen oversees multiple facets of Orgill’s retail operations. His role spans three main areas: managing CNRG, a multi-brand, multi-format retailer operating 145 hardware stores, home centers, and lumberyards across 16 states; leading Tyndale Advisors, a consulting group offering fee-based services such as marketing, business advisory, and merchandising to local dealers; and heading Orgill’s Retail Services group, which handles planograms, assortments, and store conversions from other suppliers to Orgill. Sieggreen’s extensive background also includes leadership roles at Wolohan Lumber Co. and BMC West, with experience in mergers, acquisitions, and executive management.
Cowart brings more than 25 years of home improvement industry experience across retail, wholesale distribution, and big-box retailing. Starting his career at Marvin’s Building Materials, Cowart held various leadership roles, including vice president of merchandising and president of Marvin’s. He has also worked at Lowe’s and Handy Hardware and recently served as CEO of Fulcrum Building Group. In his role as COO, Cowart manages the day-to-day operations of CNRG’s 18 brands, focusing on expansion and operational excellence.
CNRG, founded in 2011, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Orgill and combines the strength of local retail brands with the buying power and professional management of a larger organization, positioning it for continued growth across the United States.
Hardware Connection: Let’s take a look back at 2023 first. Any surprises last year or about what you expected?
Sieggreen: We were off in ’23. Our sales suffered from a variety of things along with the industry. We had a couple of other effects that were maybe more unique. For example, Hurricane Ida in late 2021 hit Louisiana. We have a big operation down there. It really didn’t mess up our actual facilities for very long, but it did a lot of damage in and around the area. And so they’ve had two monster years cleaning up through late ’21 and the rest of ’22. So, we were down 35 to 40 percent in that one market alone.
Then we also had lumber deflation after Covid. Eventually, everybody built a porch or painted a bedroom. So, we did see a decent amount of demand slow down. Still, 2023 was a good, solid profitable year for us. But lumber deflation was pretty apparent. Plus, a little bit weaker, wetter spring especially on the West Coast. Those are probably our three biggest impacts, but we still pulled out a good year—a little down, but definitely something that we are proud of.
HC: Any expansion plans? Will CNRG add more stores in the near future?
Sieggreen: I’ll let Craig speak to some of the projects we have going on in terms of acquisitions, which as I said, that’s most of our growth. I think we’ve done some 25 or 26 acquisitions over the 12 years since we’ve been in business. We acquired six stores in ’22, one in ’23. We did a pretty large acquisition in late ’21, acquiring Frattallone’s Ace Hardware in Minneapolis and St. Paul. We’re always looking, so we kind of always have our radar going. All the core reasons why acquisitions are taking place in the industry are still present. Succession planning challenges are still there. So, we’re always looking.
Cowart: We’re trying to work on projects where we could foster some organic growth inside of the brands outside of acquisition. We have some remerchandising efforts going into several stores. By remerchandising, we’re drawing from all the things that they do well, new assortments from Orgill, as well as some unique niche things that we do across the country and other brands that we want to feather in. We’ll be totally rethinking that whole format, mostly on the inside of the store.
