At the beginning of the current year, Midway Hardware has an inventory of $400,000. Because sales growth is forecast to be strong during the current year, the owner wants to increase inventory on hand to $450,000 by the end of the current year. If net sales for the current year are expected to be $1,600,000, and the gross profit rate is expected to be 35%, compute the cost of the merchandise the owner should expect to purchase during the current year.