For many companies, growth this year has come from mega-projects (data centers or industrial facilities) or the rise in commodity prices. The question, as you start your planning process, is “have you taken share at your accounts?” This is then
More INSIGHTS
Back almost 30 years ago when the original 20 distributors and 20 manufacturers came together to form IDEA, the goal was to reduce operating costs, which was defined as reducing errors in data when it was communicated between the two
The first 40 years of my electrical background was based on a premise that everyone in our industry made more profit through stock. I worked initially for a wire manufacturer who drove our philosophy to support those distributors who supported
People of a certain age, or who watch syndicated television sitcoms, may remember a show called the Jeffersons and, at the mention of the name they get a visual remembrance but, more importantly, get transported back to the opening theme
The 2026 Q2 Pulse of Lighting report shared that, unfortunately, the lighting market is still flat, on average. Yes there are manufacturers, and distributors, that are up but many remain down or flat due to the residential construction malaise in
Over the past five years, roughly 140 independent electrical distributors have been acquired, representing $12-13 billion in industry revenue at the time of sale. One number jumps out every time I dig into the “why”: 98% happened because the owner
Research & Resources
For years we’ve heard about the need for grid modernization and once of the concerns regarding the growth of data centers is power generation. Industrial factories also play into this. Power generation construction, and subsequent maintenance, is, and will, represent
Recently I saw two news stories that got me wondering. The first was New York State’s moratorium on data center construction. The second was a county here in North Carolina that also implemented a moratorium, and the newscast went on
The lighting industry continued to undergo much change in Q2. Aside from a number of small manufacturer acquisitions / mergers, lighting agents merging, and the final “implosion” of Cree Lighting, we also had LEDucation, Signify’s Capital Markets Day, Acuity’s earnings
As manufacturers and distributors seek areas for growth as well as beginning their 2027 planning (yes, there are manufacturers looking this far ahead), Chris Sokoll from DISC shares an idea called “economic clustering” and highlights how this complementary market approach
Recently Chris Sokoll (from DISC) and I were talking about copper, which led to a discussing the wire / cable market. We all know some of the dynamics: Raw material cost fluctuations, which have resulted in an increase. Tariff dynamics
Supplier News
It has been a busy year for Halco. At the end of last year, they acquired the permanent lighting business from Topaz, which was owned by Southwire. Since then, they have had to make decisions in a number of territories
nVent announced their results for 2Q 2026 on July 31. They reported record quarterly sales of $1.5 billion, up 53%, and 47% organically, and adjusted operating income was $323 million, up 61%, riding a historic data‑center boom while simultaneously navigating
Eaton announced its 2Q 2026 earnings on July 31. Their results confirm the structural shift in the U.S. electrical market that previous earnings results have benefitted from – AI‑scale data centers, utility grid upgrades, and industrial electrification have turned Electrical
Schneider Electric announced its Q2 2026 results on July 30 delivering one of the strongest quarters in its history, underscoring the company’s rising influence across electrification, automation, and digital energy management. With demand surging in data centers, grid modernization, and
Legrand, the French conglomerate known for wiring devices, lighting controls, Wiremold and its lighting lines in the electrical distribution segment, who has also built a robust data center offering, announced 1H 2026 earnings on July 29. Legrand’s record first‑half 2026
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David Gordon
Channel Marketing Group
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