CNRG Implements Cloud-Based Solution Suite

Central Network Retail Group, LLC (CNRG), which includes a number of different regional hardware and home center chains will implement a suite of cloud-based business solutions from MI9 that will unite all its varied units' stores on a single platform.

CNRG offers consumers the regional merchandise selection and availability provided by independent hardware chains and home centers while taking advantage of the merchandising efficiencies enjoyed by national chains. The first member to do so was Home Hardware Center, an 18-store chain based in Mississippi. The chain then added Cole's Home Solutions in Tennessee, Morrison Terrebonne Lumber Center in Louisiana, and NFL Building Center in Alabama.

"We currently operate 22 stores in the Southeast and are adding 11 more in February," said CNRG president Boyden Moore in a statement. "Using MI9 Business Intelligence and MI9 Merchant will give us the ability to manage the different stores and formats using one ERP solution. None of the other systems we considered could give us the flexibility and scalability we need to meet our company's growth goals."

Stores will integrate with the home office through MI9 Retail Hub, a real-time data delivery solution that makes vital, time-sensitive information readily available companywide. CNRG will install the solutions in the cloud, giving member chains unlimited access to the innovative tools. Centralized purchasing and standardized reporting are among the efficiencies that will benefit the new organization, as will immediate access to customer and product information at store level.