Elgin mainstay Seigle's Cabinet Center acquired by Cincinnati-based Sims-Lohman
Seigle's Cabinet Center, an Elgin institution with roots dating back to 1881, is changing hands. But Mark Seigle said it will be a seamless transition for both customers and employees.
Seigle's was acquired recently by Cincinnati-based Sims-Lohman, the nation's largest provider of kitchen cabinets, granite and quartz countertops to building professionals.
Seigle said he'd been exploring ownership succession plans since 2020 before finding what he said was the perfect fit.
"The culture is the same. They're family-owned," Seigle said. "So we thought this would be the most appropriate transition and best not only for ownership, but more importantly for our employees and our customers."
Sims-Lohman has 20 sales showroom locations across six states, four regional distribution centers, and six granite and quartz countertop manufacturing plants. The addition of Seigle's will add four sales showrooms, an additional distribution facility, 35 team members and over $14 million in sales volume.
The company will maintain the same name, which was important to Seigle.
"Although Sims-Lohman has grown through acquisition, we were honored that this is the first acquisition they've made that, due to the brand, they chose to keep the name," Seigle said.
The company that is now Seigle's was founded in 1881 as the Elgin Lumber Company by a group of prominent local businessmen, including Lee Borden of Borden Dairy fame. Mark's father, Harold T. Seigle, and a partner bought the company in 1941. The company was renamed Seigle's Home & Building Centers in 1983.
Seigle says he will remain with the company for "at least a year" through the transition and then see how it goes.
"I flunked retirement the first time," said Seigle, who sold the company in 2005 before reacquiring it a few years later.
Seigle said the previous sale of the company to Stock Building Supply, a British, publicly-held company, wasn't the right fit with his company's culture.
"Sims-Lohman is so much like Seigle's. We've known them for decades, and the feeling is good," Seigle said. "I'm certain for my employees and my customers that this is the right thing to do."