News
Breaking news in Wholesale Distribution
UK-based Wolseley plc, distributor of plumbing/HVAC and building materials, recently reported its first-half results, which were brought down by Stock Building Supply in the U.S. and boosted by Ferguson. Wolseley saw 9 percent organic growth in North America, but profit fell 15%. European operations however saw double-digit organic growth, with profit up 33 percent.
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Here are a few graphics from a recent slideshow Wolseley recently posted online on its first-half results. The full presentation is here.
Download the pdf below to see the …
Our cover story this week in Modern Distribution Management on channel management has been a fascinating subject to research. There are some significant role shifts taking place. We gained a lot of input from innovators in manufacturing and distribution, including many more beyond those quoted in article.
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It was also a difficult topic to get beyond the generalizations, stereotypes and misperceptions that in fact too often form the basis for relationships and ultimately policies in many companies. For some people, channel management is an oxymoron, because they are using the same pricing and marketing formulas in place 10 or 20 years ago. But we found others who are finding some good …
Sales. The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that February 2007 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 $340.8 billion, up 1.2 percent (+/-0.5%) from the revised January level and were up 7.1 percent (+/-1.2%) from the February 2006 level. The January preliminary estimate was revised downward $0.5 billion or 0.1 percent. February sales of durable goods were down 0.8 percent (+/-1.0%) …
Gibraltar Industries, Inc., Buffalo, NY, has acquired NorWesCo, Noll Manufacturing, and M & N Plastics from The Employee Ownership Holding Company. The companies, which have annual sales of $60 million, operate manufacturing facilities in Fife, WA; Portland, OR; and Stockton, CA.
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They manufacture more than 4,000 products that serve the building, HVAC, and lawn and garden markets. They sell to retailers, building product distributors, roofing/concrete distributors, lumber yards, and contractors.
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Gibraltar Industries is a manufacturer, processor, and distributor of products for the building, industrial, and vehicular markets. The company serves a variety of industries in the U.S. and throughout the world. It operates 89 facilities in 26 states, Canada, …
Saint-Gobain’s Building Distribution Sector has acquired three distributors in Europe: Vemac (Italy), Discesur (Spain) and Sch& auml; fer (Germany).
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Vemac is one of the country’s largest builders’merchants based in Abruzzo. The business has 10 branches, employs 187 people and recorded net sales of & euro; 66 million in 2006.
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Following the opening of a second La Plateforme du B& acirc; timent store at the beginning of 2007 in Milan, Saint-Gobain Building Distribution reinforces its presence in the Italian market.
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Discesur is the No. 2 distributor of tiles in Spain. With a large showroom (4,000 m2) in Madrid, the business recorded net sales of over & euro; 55 million in 2006 and employs 101 people. Through this acquisition, Saint-Gobain Building …
February U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $268.37 million, according to the Association for Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was down 9.7% from January, and down 6.3% from the total of $286.29 million reported for February 2006. With a year-to-date total of $565.54 million, 2007 was up 9.4% compared with 2006.
These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTC program.
The first two months of the year fit the forecast pattern of slower growth in 2007,” said John B. Byrd III, AMT President. “The strength of U.S. manufacturing activity is likely to …
Motion Industries, Birmingham, AL, has acquired Jonesboro Bearing & Supply, Jonesboro, AR. Jonesboro Bearing has two locations: Jonesboro, AR, and Stuttgart, AR.
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Jonesboro is a distributor of bearings, power transmission, industrial supplies and fasteners.
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Motion Industries, a division of Genuine Parts Co. with 2006 sale of $3.1 billion, is an industrial parts distributor of bearings, power transmission products, electrical and industrial automation, hydraulic and industrial hose, hydraulic and pneumatic products, industrial supply products and material handling. It has more than 500 locations including nine distribution centers throughout North …
Anchorage, AK-based Spenard Builders Supply, a division of Pro-Build Holdings, Denver, CO, has acquired Polar Supply Co., which operates in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Kenai, according to the Home Channel News.
Polar Supply specializes in products required to build and maintain roads, bridges and pipelines and adds to Spenard’s commercial product offerings.
Polar Supply’s three facilities will each operate as a separate division within Spenard, focusing on major commercial contractors, pipeline and oil companies.
Based in Anchorage, Spenard Builders Supply …
This is the pdf of this issue of Modern Distribution Management. Apply the full $24.95 pay-per-view cost toward an annual subscription (within 30 days of purchase), which includes two issues a month plus access to more than six years of online archives and market data. Call 1-888-742-5060 or email info@mdm.com to …
Saw Blades represented a market in 2006 of $1.22 billion, according to estimates by Industrial Market Information, Minneapolis.  ;
These charts show the top ten industries, by SIC code, consuming these products; and the 2006 end-user consumption of these groups sorted by the nine
government market regions.
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