Eric Smith

Mallory Safety and Supply, Portland, Oregon, announced that it has acquired Wise Safety & Environmental, a St. Louis, Missouri-based distributor of safety supplies and abatement products and services. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. As a result of the acquisition, Mallory will expand its safety equipment, supply-chain, and service operations coast-to-coast. Mallory will now […]

Publicly traded building materials distributor Huttig Building Products Inc. (NASDAQ: HBP), St. Louis, Missouri, on Thursday announced it has received an “unsolicited, non-binding, expression of interest from Mill Road Capital Management LLC and its affiliated funds, a private investment firm, to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of the company for $2.75 per share.” […]

Indian River Consulting Group’s (IRCG) weekly Pandemic Revenue Index for the work week of Aug. 3 to Aug. 7 indicated a 0.8% decrease compared with the same week a year ago. IRCG’s distributor Pandemic Revenue Index gives distributors a weekly quantified view into how other distributors in the industry are faring as the global COVID-19 […]

3M (NYSE: MMM), St. Paul, Minnesota, reported total sales for July increased 6% year-over-year to $2.8 billion. Organic local-currency sales (which includes organic volume impacts and selling price changes) improved 3% while acquisitions, net of divestitures, increased sales by 3%. Foreign currency translation reduced sales by 1% year-on-year. Total sales increased 29% in health care, 9% […]

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Seattle, Washington, on Thursday announced plans to build an Amazon fulfillment center in Forney, Texas, on the eastern side of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The new fulfillment center, which is anticipated to launch in 2021, will create 500 new, full-time jobs. “We’re excited to be expanding our network of operations in Forney,” […]

In its first earnings report since completing the $4.5 billion acquisition of Anixter International Inc., WESCO International Inc. (NYSE: WCC), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, reported second-quarter sales of $2.2 billion, down 2.9% from the same period a year ago. 2Q organic sales were down 12.3%. The company reported a loss of $34.5 million, compared to a profit of $63.5 million […]

As the demand environment further softened during Applied Industrial Technology Inc.’s fiscal fourth quarter (April to June), the company enacted some critical cost-reduction measures that kept revenue losses under control. Yes, the Cleveland, Ohio-based industrial, fluid power and automation distributor posted revenue of just $725.1 million, a 17.9% loss compared with the same quarter a […]

Beacon (Nasdaq: BECN), Herndon, Virginia, announced Wednesday that Samuel Guzman Jr. was appointed vice president and chief accounting officer, effective immediately. Guzman assumes leadership of Beacon’s accounting organization and will oversee all the company’s accounting operations. Thomas Schmitz, who served as the company’s interim chief accounting officer, will remain with the company in a senior financial […]

The seasonally adjusted Fastener Distributor Index (FDI) for July was 54.6, consistent with improving momentum (above 50 reading) but at a slower rate versus the improvement seen in June (FDI decreased m/ m), according to the latest analysis from Baird, FCH Sourcing Network and the Institute for Supply Management. According to FDI author Dave Manthey, […]

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE: AIT), Cleveland, Ohio, on Wednesday reported full-year sales of $3.2 billion, down 6.5% compared to a year ago. Net income for the year was $24 million compared with $144 million in the prior-year period. “I want to thank our associates for their strong effort and support throughout fiscal 2020 including the […]

For the second time in three years, HD Supply Holdings Inc. turned to a private equity buyer — specifically, New York-based firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice — for unloading a large asset, amassing a pile of cash and shifting its portfolio priorities elsewhere.  On Tuesday, the Atlanta-based company announced it had agreed to sell the company’s Construction & Industrial – White Cap business to an affiliate of private equity firm CD&R for $2.9 […]

Industrial distributor MSC Industrial Supply Co. (NYSE: MSM), Melville, New York, reported preliminary, unaudited sales for the fiscal month of July — the second month of the company’s fiscal fourth quarter — were $233.3 million, a decrease of 12.6% compared to the same period in the prior fiscal year. MSC Industrial said that during fiscal July, “non-safety […]

HD Supply Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:HDS), Atlanta, on Tuesday announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Construction & Industrial – White Cap business to an affiliate of private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for $2.9 billion. Net proceeds from the sale are expected to be approximately $2.5 billion after taxes and transaction costs. The […]

HD Supply Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:HDS), Atlanta, on Tuesday announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Construction & Industrial – White Cap business to an affiliate of private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for $2.9 billion. Net proceeds from the sale are expected to be approximately $2.5 billion after taxes and transaction costs. The […]

Amazon.com Inc. has announced a handful of new fulfillment centers in the U.S. in the last weeks, including massive facilities in Pflugerville, Texas (near Austin), El Paso, Texas, and Tampa Bay, Florida, greatly enhancing delivery capabilities in those regions.  But the Seattle, Washington-based online giant — which many distributors continue to see as a threat while others use it as a platform for B2B selling (and companies sometimes fall into both […]

Indian River Consulting Group’s (IRCG) weekly Pandemic Revenue Index for the work week of July 27-July 31, 2020, indicated a 1.4% increase compared with the same week a year ago. IRCG’s distributor Pandemic Revenue Index gives distributors a weekly quantified view into how other distributors in the industry are faring as the global COVID-19 pandemic […]

Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT), Phoenix, Arizona, reported sales for the fiscal year 2020 ended July 1 of $17.6 billion, a 9.7% decrease from the same period a year ago. The company reported a loss for the year of $ 31.1 million, compared to a profit of $176.3 million in 2019. For the fourth quarter, sales were […]

Beacon (NASDAQ: BECN), Herndon, Virginia, on Thursday reported sales of $1.79 billion for its fiscal third quarter ended June 30, a 6.9% decrease compared with the third quarter of 2019. The company reported a third-quarter loss of $6.7 million, compared with a $31 million profit in the year-ago period. “Sales steadily improved throughout the quarter, […]

Fastenal took another step toward its normal — i.e., non-pandemic — sales balance in July with safety product sales increasing 38%, down from its staggering 94.9% growth the month before, and fastener product sales decreasing just -7.5%, up from -11.4% in June.  The Winona, Minnesota-based distributor on Thursday morning reported July sales of $469.5 million, up 2.6% over the year-ago period. […]

The Manitowoc Company Inc. (NYSE: MTW), Manitowoc, Wisconsin, on Thursday announced the appointment of Aaron H. Ravenscroft — currently the company’s executive vice president of cranes — as president and CEO, and a member of the board of directors, effective immediately. Ravenscroft succeeds Barry L. Pennypacker, who is stepping down from his role as president and […]