News
Breaking news in Wholesale Distribution
Iron Age Corp., distributor and marketer of safety shoes, Westborough, MA , is shutting down after filing for bankruptcy in January. The company sold safety, work and uniform shoes to industrial, service and government sectors.
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Iron Age filed for Ch. 11 bankruptcy Jan. 22, 2007.
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In the bankruptcy filing in Massachusetts, CEO David Eckert said in an affidavit that the company had experienced liquidity issues” in the last quarter of 2006 and filed bankruptcy in order to pursue selling the business or liquidating its assets.
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Iron Age had sales of $85.07 million for the fiscal year ended Jan. 28, 2006, according to the filing. For fiscal 2007, the company had projected revenues of $75 million. Figures include Iron Age, and Iron Age Canada, a …
Safety Products Holdings Inc. and Norcross Safety Products,Oak Brook, IL , reported sales of $558.1 million in 2006, up from $481 million in 2005, a 16% increase. The sales jump was attributed to an increase in sales in general safety and preparedness and electrical safety segments.
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In the general safety and preparedness segment, sales were up 17.7%. Fire service segment sales were even at $87.9 million -incremental American Firewear sales were offset by postponed customer orders due partly to government grant holdups and a delay in the issuance of the new NFPA standard. In the electrical safety segment, sales were up 30%, driven by strong market demand, new product …
Kennametal Inc., Latrobe, PA, has agreed to buy Purity Metal Holdings Inc. and its subsidiary International Specialty Alloys Inc.  ; ISA will become part of Kennametal’s Advanced Materials Solutions Group.
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ISA manufactures high-purity specialty metal products for the aerospace, defense and super alloy industries.
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This acquisition further supports Kennametal’s growth and investment strategies, which include expanding AMSG to eventually represent 50% of its …
Premier Farnell plc has agreed to sell BuckHickman InOne, a distributor of industrial tools and supplies, to The BSS Group plc for about & pound; 27 million.
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BuckHickman had sales of & pound; 99.8 million and operating losses before interest and tax of & pound; 0.8 million for the financial year ended Jan. 28, 2007.
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Premier Farnell is a global distributor of electronic components and industrial products to the design, maintenance and engineering sectors. It operates in 21 countries. Companies within Premier Farnell Group include Farnell, CPC, BuckHickman InOne, Newark , MCM, Akron Brass, TPC Wire & Cable and Cadillac Electric.
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It is …
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Adhesives & sealants represented a market in 2005 of $2.3 billion, according to estimates by Industrial Market Information, Minneapolis. These charts show the top ten industries, by SIC code, consuming these products; and the 2005 end-user consumption of these groups sorted by the nine government market regions. …
Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc., Peabody, MA, has agreed to acquire North Coast Commercial Roofing Systems, Inc., a Twinsburg, OH-based distributor of commercial roofing systems and related accessories, with 16 locations in eight U.S. states. North Coast gives Beacon with its first locations in three states: New York, Ohio and West Virginia. North Coast had sales of about $253 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006. Beacon had sales of $1.5 billion in 2006.More …
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January U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $297.48 million, according to the American Machine Tool Distributors’Association and The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by …
Many if not most distributors measure product fill rates, and often report to customers in order to document their value. But how many distributors measure information fill rates? How well do you meet customer information needs, from a speed and quality standpoint?
A recent panel discussion on changes in distribution touched on a key observation. An astute panel member observed that velocity is a critical skill for a distributor today. Some may argue that hasn’t changed. Customers have always demanded high fill rates and on-time deliveries. But there is a difference.
Velocity is defined by speed and direction. Direction is all about how your company is positioned to meet customer needs. Customers expect and demand fast when it comes to logistics and product delivery. But …
Sales. January 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 $333.4 billion, down 0.9 percent from the revised December level, but were up 6.2 percent from the January 2006 level. The December preliminary estimate was revised downward $0.5 billion or 0.2 percent. January sales of durable goods were virtually unchanged from last month, but were up 5.7 percent from a year ago. January sales of nondurable goods were down 1.8 percent from last month, but were up 6.7 percent from last year.
Inventories. Total inventories of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’sales branches and offices, after …
While most housing markets throughout the country experienced a year of decline in 2006 following the boom levels of the previous two years, 2007 is expected to be a year of transition, with growth emerging in many areas, according the National Association of Home Builders'(NAHB) Regional Housing Starts Forecast.  ;
The forecast, available through NAHB’s HousingEconomics.com, reports on regional and state-by-state housing forecasts and analyzes the health of local housing markets.  ;
The earlier boom in housing can be attributed largely to excess demand generated by historically low interest rates coupled with aggressive mortgage lending practices, a combination that made homeownership more affordable but also attracted investors and speculators into many …
