14 | Orgill Case Study AS WITH ANY STORE ACQUISITION, CNRG worked to develop a unique plan for transitioning the H&M Lumber Company location into the Home Hardware brand and creating opportunities for incremental profitability growth as outlined above. One of the key factors that played into this strategy was maintaining the character of the business that made it so popular locally, while also finding opportunities to transition the operation into the new West Helena branch of Home Hardware. This required the CNRG, Home Hardware and Orgill teams working on the project to be sensitive about issues such as favored local product brands, localized assortments and even the look and feel of the store. “You have to understand a couple things going into a situation like this,” said Phillip Helms, senior vice president for CNRG. “This was a successful business that had been serving the community for 50+ years. You don’t want to upset that balance, but you also want to introduce the community, the employees and everyone to the new options and new benefits that you can offer by having it become a Home Hardware Center location. You never want to come across as the big company coming in to just take over what had been a strong relationship.” Conscious of these sensitivities, the CNRG, Orgill and Home Hardware teams worked closely with the H&M Lumber Company’s existing employees to learn about the market, product offerings, assortments and programs that resonated with the community. “We also wanted to show the H&M employees that we valued their input and that they were going to be a big part of this process and the future success of what was now the West Helena Home Hardware Center,” Helms says. Setting the right tone with employees, and with a commitment to still meet the unique needs of the West Helena community, the transition team from Orgill, CNRG and Home Hardware set to work on the conversion from H&M Lumber Company to the new West Helena Home Hardware. Updating the Environment A Plan for West Helena STRATEGY
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