McLendon Hardware sold to Memphis retail group

Longtime family-owned McLendon Hardware, which operates seven stores in the Puget Sound area, is being sold to Memphis-based Central Network Retail Group.

Renton-based McLendon agreed to be acquired in order to keep growing in the Puget Sound area and beyond, the company said.

McLendon Hardware employs about 500 people across its seven stores in Kent, Puyallup, Renton, Sumner, Tacoma, White Center and Woodinville.

Gail McLendon, the company’s president, said that “continued if not aggressive growth is essential. CNRG has the financial strength to sustain and expand our business in the Puget Sound region and beyond.”

Her statement noted that “expert advice, legendary customer service and unmatched product selection have been the hallmarks of McLendon’s success for more than 90 years.”

The company’s owners looked at alternatives over the years that would let them to keep its culture, legacy and team members intact, while allowing them to open new stores, her statement said.

“We wanted a partner more than a buyer,” Gail McLendon said.

CNRG operates 90 hardware stores, home centers and lumberyards in 11 states, under several brands.

The McLendon Hardware name will remain, with the company still managed by Gail and Mike McLendon.

CNRG plans to keep all McLendon stores open, with no layoffs planned, said Boyden Moore, president of CNRG.

“We’re excited,” Moore said Friday morning in a phone interview. “We’re looking forward to partnering with them and seeing what we can do.”

The company’s history dates to its founding as a second-hand junk shop in Renton in 1926. It’s been owned and operated by McLendon family members since.

Gail McLendon told The News Tribune on Friday afternoon that customers at the South Sound stores can expect to see a wider variety of products available at those stores after the acquisition. The Puget Sound will be a new market for them, and they are considering expansion, McLendon said.

“That’s part of their strategy is to come into a great market like Seattle and Tacoma has and they potentially want to open new stores,” she said.

Terms of the acquisition, which is expected to close in April, were not disclosed.

Staff writer Kate Martin contributed to this report.

This story was originally published March 31, 2017 at 1:27 PM with the headline "McLendon Hardware sold to Memphis retail group."