Eric Smith

The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) and distributors across the country announced a partnership supporting mass vaccination sites at multiple NFL stadiums. Companies will donate personal protective equipment and other items, including gloves, sanitizer, pumps, masks, shields and wipes. The first mass vaccination sites to receive donations were the Detroit Lions’ Ford Field and the […]

To continue reading this article you must be a paid subscriber. Subscribe to MDM Already Subscribed? Click here to log-in | Forgot your password? Mark Dancer is less concerned with offering distributors best practices but rather helping them “see over the horizon, develop foresight and implement business model innovation.” And that’s exactly what he plans […]

New orders for manufactured durable goods in February decreased $2.9 billion, or 1.1%, to $254 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This decrease, down following nine consecutive monthly increases, followed a 3.5% January increase. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.9%. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 0.7%. Transportation, down following five consecutive monthly increases, led […]

Winsupply Inc., Dayton, Ohio, on Wednesday announced it has completed the acquisition of Discount Drainage Supplies, an Akron, Ohio-based waterworks distributor with three locations in Ohio. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Each of the three Discount Drainage locations in Akron, Columbus and Reading have been renamed, effective immediately, to Winwater of Akron, […]

U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $152.2 million in January, according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT). This total, as reported by companies participating in the Cutting Tool Market Report collaboration, was down 21.8% when compared with the $194.8 million reported for January 2020 and down 3.2% from […]

Led by declines in indicators related to production and personal consumption and housing, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) fell to –1.09 in February from +0.75 in January. Two of the four broad categories of indicators used to construct the index made negative contributions in February, but all four categories decreased from January. The […]

Dakota Supply Group, Plymouth, Minnesota, on Monday announced it has appointed Julianne Turk as CFO. Turk will lead DSG’s financial teams and oversee all the company’s financial processes and strategy development. She will be based out of DSG’s Plymouth office and will be part of DSG’s executive team. “We are excited that Julianne has joined […]

The board of directors of Houston-based industrial distributor SBP Holdings this week announced the appointment of Craig Osborne as the company’s next president and CEO. Since joining SBP in 2013, Osborne has held various senior roles, including vice president and CFO. Most recently, he served as the company’s vice president and COO. His prior experience […]

Amazon Business this week said that in 2020 it “reached $25 billion in worldwide annualized sales, more than half of which are from third-party sellers.” Its parent company, Amazon.com, doesn’t break out the division’s sales in its quarterly earnings reports. The Seattle-based company, which launched in 2015 after rebranding from AmazonSupply, also said it has […]

Würth Industry North America, Indianapolis, Indiana, and its subsidiary Northern Safety & Industrial, on Wednesday announced the acquisition of Louisville, Kentucky-based ORR Safety, a privately held safety distributor with revenues of $125 million. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Since 1948, ORR Safety has provided personal protective equipment (PPE) and related safety services to […]

Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,682,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 17% above the February 2020 rate of 1,438,000 and 10.8% below the revised January rate of 1,886,000. Single-family authorizations […]

Winsupply Inc., Dayton, Ohio, announced this week it has opened Winsupply of East Tennessee in Seymour, Tennessee. The distributor of HVAC and plumbing equipment is located just southeast of Knoxville near the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. The company serves heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and plumbing contractors throughout East Tennessee. Logan Hale […]

The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for January, adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,568.5 billion, up 7.1% from January 2020 and up 4.7% from December 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Manufacturers’ and trade inventories for January, adjusted for seasonal […]

Below is a rundown of how public companies in distribution performed during the fourth quarter of 2020. The list includes companies across a variety of verticals and includes some manufacturers pertinent to this space. Click the company name for more details on their quarterly earnings, including year-to-date performance, and in select recaps, look for links […]

Recently merged janitorial supply, equipment and foodservice distributors Brady Industries, Las Vegas, and Individual Foodservice, Bell, California, this week announced the acquisition of Elkins Wholesale, which operates two branches in Mississippi. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Since 1998, Elkins has serviced customers from Columbus, Mississippi, to the Gulf Coast. “We are delighted to […]

Recently merged janitorial supply, equipment and foodservice distributors Brady Industries, Las Vegas, and Individual Foodservice, Bell, California, this week announced the acquisition of Elkins Wholesale, which operates two branches in Mississippi. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Since 1998, Elkins has serviced customers from Columbus, Mississippi, to the Gulf Coast. “We are delighted to […]

Total industrial production fell 2.2% in February, according to the Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization Report, released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve. Manufacturing output and mining production fell 3.1 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively; the output of utilities increased 7.4 percent. At 104.7 percent of its 2012 average, total industrial production in February was 4.2 […]

HVACR distributor Watsco Inc. (NYSE: WSO), Miami, on Tuesday announced it has agreed to acquire Temperature Equipment Corporation, Chicago, expanding the distributor’s footprint into the Midwest. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Founded in 1935, TEC posted 2020 sales of $291 million. The company serves around 10,000 customers from 32 locations in Illinois, Indiana, […]

Ferguson PLC, Wokingham, United Kingdom, reported sales of $10.3 billion for the first half of fiscal year 2021, up 4.2% compared to the same period a year ago. Trading profit of $875 million marked a 12% increase from the year-ago period. The company said it invested $224 million in acquisitions during the first half of […]

Houston Wire & Cable Co. (Nasdaq: HWCC), Houston, Texas, on Monday announced that it completed the sale of its Southwest Wire Rope business in an asset transaction for $5 million. The sale excluded approximately $2.9 million of trade accounts receivable, which HWCC retained. HWCC used the net sales proceeds of approximately $3.4 million to further […]