June 2008

Plumbing &HVAC distributor Ferguson, Newport News, VA, has opened a new clearance center in Pomona, CA. The 7,600-square-foot retail space, in an existing warehouse, offers excess inventory and discontinued material from Ferguson warehouses and showrooms in the Southern California area. Ferguson is a Wolseley plc company, a UK-based distributor of plumbing, HVAC and building materials. More
 
Chicago-based Grainger, facilities maintenance distributor, will open four new facilities, relocate one other, and expand and enhance three existing facilities throughout the U.S. Gulf region. The move is part of the company’s market expansion initiative.

Flooding in the Midwest is keeping distributors there busy helping customers recover from the extensive damage the waters brought.
 
One of the hardest hit was Cedar Rapids, Iowa’s second-largest city. The AP reported that about 1,300 city blocks flooded and 24,000 people fled their homes.
 
In Eastern Iowa, where Cedar Rapids is located, distributors worked long hours to help customers minimize potential damage before and during the flooding.
 
In one case, a Ferguson employee made a late-night run in heavy rain to the HVAC/plumbing distributor’s Waterloo, IA, distribution center -50 miles each way -to get mechanical plugs for contractors working to prevent floodwaters from seeping into the local hospital.
 
The distributor worked with …