If you haven’t seen the latest issue of Electrical Wholesaling, you owe it to yourself to read the cover story on Trade Service. The article was very illuminating on what the company has been working on and its breadth of […]
The beginning of the meeting season coincides with the beginning of the planning season. Many manufacturers are well into the process with some distributors just starting. Looking into your crystal ball can be challenging, especially in light of recent uncertainty.While […]
Yesterday there was an interesting ad in The Wall Street Journal. An electrical and mechanical contractor, EMCOR, with almost $7 billion in revenues of which about 25% is electrical, was advertising their services. While the reasons are obvious – developers […]
On Monday we reported that we had heard that Maurice Electric, Washington DC, had sold their business (to USESI, which operates Electrical Wholesalers) (read the press release). Since then we have heard of a couple of other deals that are […]
Recently we’ve spoken to a number of distributors about the operational aspect of their business. A recurring trend is the interest in improving cashflow. While a group of distributors have focused on better managing their inventory investments, many are looking […]
I was speaking with a distributor last week regarding the opportunity to speak to their salespeople, and probably suppliers, at their upcoming Field Marketing Summit. Their desired topic is “How marketing can help / The role of marketing“. Our conversation […]
Last week there was a little reported story that mentioned that Haier, a Chinese appliance company, and Blackstone, a private equity firm that the Chinese government made a 10% investment in last year, were considering/bidding for GE Appliances, which includes […]
At one time or another most distributors have used this famous quote when dealing with the tax man. There is a companion statement/plea that also is used: “I don’t care what I paid for it, it is only worth “x”. […]
On the acquisition front that is.Growth can come from multiple ways, even in tough times. While a number of distributors are developing / implementing targeted strategies and some are opening new locations, others are taking advantage of competitor challenges.Given a […]
Much has occurred over the past couple of months and many manufacturers and distributors have cut to the bone in an effort to preserve profitability. These cuts have focused on people, programs (in the case of manufacturers) and products (in […]
