London-area Home Hardware sold

ST. JACOBS, Ont. — A family-owned Home Hardware in the heart of the banner’s Waterloo Region home turf is changing hands after nearly 70 years. McNaughton’s Home Hardware in Newbury, Ont., will keep its name and its 60 employees under new owner Graham Young. Jack McNaughton founded the store with his two brothers in 1948. His son Gary started working there in 1977, becoming president in 1988. Under his watch, the store has grown into a miniature shopping complex, with equipment rental, installation services, and franchises including an M&M Meat Shop, an Auto Sense auto parts store, and a liquor store. At 72, Gary is ready to retire. His son Mike, who co-owned the shop along with his brother, Conservative MPP Monte McNaughton, and Heather McVicar, couldn’t afford to assume sole proprietorship. He met Young, who was looking to operate his own business, last year through mutual friends. Mike McNaughton says the family will continue to be involved in the business, and that the sale is more like “expanding the family to include another member.”