Emporia’s Waters True Value store now has new ownership.
Waters, Inc., has sold the Emporia store and its seven other locations in Kansas to Gerken Rent-All. According to Kimberly Smith of Water’s management, much of the Waters family has moved away from the hardware business into other ventures, and current owner Jim Waters desired to see the business continue on.
This is a major proponent which led to the sale of the longstanding hardware company. Smith says while this means new ownership of the business, the two companies are remarkably similar.
Smith adds the change in ownership will see no changes to Water’s current locations. Emporia store manager Angelica Barajas agrees and says employees were pleased to hear things will remain largely the same.
Terms of the sale are not being released, but a news release from Waters says there will be no personnel changes as part of the sale. While there will be no changes to current locations or employment, Waters will be rebranded as Waters Hardware with rental operations being rebranded as Gerken Rent-All within each store.
Gerken has been in the hardware and rental service industry for 17 years. Before today’s announcement, Gerken had locations in 12 cities in eastern Kansas and western Missouri.
Waters Hardware Company was founded in 1894 in Manchester, Kansas and has had a lengthy association with True Value. The Emporia store moved from its longtime home at 801 West Sixth to 2727 West Highway 50 four years ago.
New signage inside the store could be evident in the coming days.
