October 25, 2008

Credit has been virtually frozen since unprecedented turmoil hit Wall Street and major banks this month. Here’s what it means for distributors, manufacturers and deal-making.

The construction industry has been hit hard by the severe downturn in the housing market and the 160 member companies that make up the AMAROK Drywall Distributor Network are no exception. While a number of distributors are holding their own, others have seen business fall off so much that they have struggled to cover overhead.

 
Strike two: When builders started to file for bankruptcy and were unable to pay their subcontractors, the distributors’receivables fell off dramatically. Receivables have improved, but the distributors are now facing a third strike: the …

August 2008 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $404.9 billion, down 1.0 percent from July, but up 13.4 percent from August 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. The July preliminary estimate was revised downward $1.7 billion or 0.4 percent. August sales of durable goods were down 1.5 percent from last month, but were up 5.5 percent from a year ago. Compared to last month, sales of hardware, and plumbing and heating equipment and supplies were down 6.5 percent and sales of lumber and other construction materials were down 5.2 percent. Sales of nondurable goods were down 0.6 percent from last month, but were up 20.7 percent from last year. Sales …