September 2006

W.W. Grainger, the North American provider of facility maintenance products, has opened its first facility in China. The Master Branch, in the Shanghai suburb of  Minhang, will initially stock approximately 20,000 products businesses and institutions need to keep their facilities running. Grainger has also recently published a Chinese language catalogue featuring all the products carried in the Master Branch […]

declining sales are forecast by only 11.6 percent.ABC Supply Co., Inc., distributor of building materials, tools and supplies based in Beloit, WI, will open a new branch in Erlanger, KY, in October. The new location will include a 3,000-square-foot showroom and a 60,000-square-foot warehouse and carry lines of residential and commercial roofing and siding products,

>UK-based Wolseley plc, distributor of plumbing and heating products to professional contractors and a supplier of building materials, announced three acquisitions for an aggregate consideration of 22 million. In a full year, these acquisitions are expected to add about 30 million (about $57 million) in additional revenue.> >Since the beginning of the financial year on 1

B.)Prices for intermediate energy goods rose 0.7 percent in August after edging down 0.1  percent in July.  The jet fuels index climbed 6.7 percent compared with a 5.3-percent decline a month earlier.  Prices for diesel fuel and residual fuel also moved up after decreasing in July.  The index for industrial natural gas increased more than

Kennametal Inc., Latrobe, PA, has acquired Camco Cutting Tools and Advanced Powder Fusion, Kelowna, British Columbia, a manufacturer of specialized saw tips and supplies to the forestry and woodworking industry in Canada and the U.S.Camco and its 40 employees joined Kennametal’s Engineered Products Group effective Aug. 31, 2006. These new products and technologies add to

(publishing and logging) fell 0.6 percent.

US Electrical Services, LLC, Chester Springs, PA, has agreed to buy Duplex Electrical Supply Corp. effective August 25, 2006.  Herb Slater, president, founded Duplex in 1990. ‘We are pleased to have Duplex as a part of our ever-expanding team at US Electrical,’ said Greg Griswold, president of USESI’s Mid-Atlantic Region. ‘Duplex allows us to continue expanding our

GE, Fairfield, CT, has agreed to sell GE Advanced Materials (Silicones & Quartz) to Apollo Management, L.P., a private investment firm, in a deal valued at $3.8 billion in cash and securities.GE Advanced Materials is a $2.5 billion supplier of silicone-based products, silanes, sealants, urethane additives and adhesives; and high-purity fused quartz and ceramics materials.

Plymouth Rubber Company, Inc., Canton, MA, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Brite-Line Technologies, Inc., have emerged from Chapter 11, supported by an infusion of new equity from Chrysalis Capital Partners, LP, a private equity firm, and a new senior credit facility provided by Wells Fargo Business Credit. The companies’ Plan of Reorganization, which became effective Sept.

Protective Industrial Products, Inc., Guilderland Center, NY, supplier of gloves to industrial distributors throughout the U.S., has acquired the Brahma Glove Division from Great Southern Corporation, not to include advertising specialty or licensed products. Steve Vaught, the former president of Great Southern, will be the general manager of the newly created Brahma Glove Co. Division of Protective Industrial Products,

The U.S. Census Bureau announced that July 2006 sales of merchant wholesalers were $331.7 billion, up 0.4% from the revised June level and 12.6% from July 2005 level. The June preliminary estimate was revised downward $0.7 billion, or 0.2%. July sales of durable goods increased 0.1% from last month and 10.4% from July 2005. July

RBC Bearings Inc., Oxford, CT, an international manufacturer of highly-engineered precision plain, roller and ball bearings for the industrial, defense and aerospace industries, has acquired All Power Manufacturing Co. in Santa Fe Springs, CA, for $9.3 million in cash. The company manufactures a line of bearings and precision parts for use in commercial and military

Home Depot Supply of Canada has acquired Grafton Utility Supply, an electrical utility distributor in Canada. Established in 1978, Grafton Utility Supply distributes transmission and distribution products. It has 72 associates and operates in four cities: Colborne, Ontario; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Calgary, Alberta; and Surrey, British Columbia. Products include wire and cable, transformers, connectors, switches, insulators,

may appear actionable under the ADEA.  However, said policy will be defensible when based on a reasonable factor other than age. Such policy factors, when properly reasoned and explained, are not actionable. Two factors make claims under the ADEA something that all distributors should focus on. First, with the aging of the baby boomer generation, there