News
Breaking news in Wholesale Distribution
Praxair Distribution, Inc., Danbury, CT, has acquired Rite Weld Supply, Inc. of Fort Worth, TX. Rite Weld is a regional independent distributor of industrial, medical, specialty gases and related welding equipment and supplies.
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Rite Weld operates cylinder filling plants in Gainesville and Fort Worth, TX, and three retail stores in Denton and Bridgeport, TX, and Madill, OK. The business generated sales of $14 million in 2006 and has 48 employees.
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The acquisition of Rite Weld to our existing network in North Central Texas further strengthens Praxair’s ability to serve customers throughout this important region,” said Praxair Distribution President Wayne Yakich.
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Praxair, Inc. is an industrial gases company with 2006 sales of $8.3 …
Airgas, Inc., Radnor, PA, distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases, welding, safety, and related products, reported sales in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2007, were up 14% to $854 million. Acquisitions accounted for 9% of the growth. Same-store sales increased 5%, with hardgoods up 6% and gas and rent up 5%.
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Sales in fiscal 2007 increased 13% to $3.2 billion, with same-store sales growth of 8%.
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We capped the most successful year for acquisitions in our 25-year history. The quarter included the acquisition of CFC Refimax in January and the March 9 acquisition of Linde’s divested bulk gas business, bringing our year-end total to 13 acquisitions with more than $335 million in acquired revenue,” said Airgas Chairman and CEO Peter …
Real gross domestic product -the output of goods and services produced by labor and property in the U.S. -increased at an annual rate of 1.3% in the first quarter of 2007, according to advance estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 2.5%.
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The first-quarter preliminary” estimates, based on more comprehensive data, will be released May 31, 2007.
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The increase in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE) and state and local government spending.
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The deceleration in real GDP growth in the first quarter primarily reflected a downturn in exports, an upturn in imports, a deceleration in PCE for nondurable goods, and a …
US Components, Morristown, NJ, a supplier of truss and wall panels and division of Pro-Build Holdings, has acquired Casmin Inc., Leesburg, FL, a roof and floor manufacturer.
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Casmin has plants in Tavares and Lady Lake, FL. The acquisition is US Components first entry into …
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in April for the third consecutive month, while the overall economy grew for the 66th consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business.
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Manufacturing activity increased in April; the PMI reflects accelerating growth for the month. New Orders and Production improved significantly as did Employment.
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Manufacturers are now in their ninth month of inventory reduction, so supply chains are generally in balance. On the negative side, prices continue to rise at a rapid rate with metals and energy being the areas of greatest concern to buyers.
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The 11 industries reporting growth in April & mdash; listed in order & mdash; are: Wood …
Barnes Group Inc., Bristol, CT, has renamed its Associated Spring business segment Barnes Industrial. The Barnes Industrial business segment consists of six business units: Precision Forming; Retention Rings; Nitrogen Gas Products; Precision Valves; Engineered Springs; and Plastics. The Associated Spring brand will remain within the Engineered Springs SBU.
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The name change more accurately identifies the end markets and customers of the individual businesses within Barnes Industrial, according to a news release. The change to Barnes Industrial brings the name of the business segment in parallel with Barnes Group Inc.’s other two business segments -Barnes Aerospace and Barnes Distribution.
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Barnes Group is an international aerospace and industrial …
OfficeSource Inc., Denver, CO, wholesaler of office furniture, today announced it has acquired NDI Wholesale, Nashville, TN, independent office furniture wholesaler in the Southeast.
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NDI Wholesale services more than 530 active customers throughout a seven-state region, including Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
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The addition of NDI Wholesale fits our business model and strategy perfectly,” explained Todd Elmers, chairman and CEO. “It takes our coast-to-coast presence another step closer toward a full nationwide distribution network.”
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NDI Wholesale complements OfficeSource’s existing locations, products and services. NDI Wholesale dealers provide a complete array of office furniture as well as …
Construction spending during March 2007 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,187.8 billion, 0.2 percent (& plusmn; 1.3%) …
The number of electrical distributors reporting sales growth continued to decline during the first quarter of 2007, however they look for a strong upturn in the second quarter, according to National Association of Electrical Distributors’ newly released Quarterly Sales Change Expectation Survey.
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For the quarter ended March 31, 61.2% of distributors indicated their sales had grown. This marked the third consecutive quarter in which the percentage of distributors reporting growth had declined. The portion of distributors estimating increases of 10% or more remained virtually unchanged from the prior quarter at 29.5%. The number of distributors whose sales declined grew to 31.7%. Among regions, the Northeast experienced a difficult quarter as only 32.4% of distributors …
Rockwell Automation, Inc., Milwaukee, WI, reported fiscal 2007 second quarter net income of $729.3 million, including a gain from the sale of its Power Systems segment. Profit in the second quarter excluding this was $142.3 million.
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Sales in the quarter, which exclude Power Systems, were $1,206.5 million, up 8%. Sales in the U.S. were flat compared to the second quarter of 2006. International sales increased 13%, excluding the effect of currency translation, with continued strength in Europe and Latin America, and weaker results in Asia Pacific and Canada.
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From an end market perspective, sales into resource-based end markets continued to pace growth, and sales into consumer-facing industries grew at about the company average. Sales to the global automotive …
