A couple of weeks ago we wrote about how Home Depot was advertising that it was pursuing AC disconnect business by competing on price. Their ad openly mentioned low pricing on Eaton and GE. Following this, we heard from a […]
Last Friday’s unemployment figures along with the number of people who went off unemployment benefits gives all of us an indication that we are in for a long recovery. Even retailers are having a hard time getting people to spend […]
Now that we’ve celebrated Independence Day and at the same time have seen the 2009 PAR report, we can safely conclude that Ben Franklin, one of our founding fathers, who is also known for his kite experiment, must have been […]
A topic that is near and dear to all distributors’ heart is their “unique” pricing to their customers, especially over the past 18 months. For some distributors it is the only way they know how to “market” their company. And […]
Distribution CapacityMany complain there is still too much distribution capacity in some markets, which means that businesses are continuing to use price as the determinate to get business. Some consider it taking market share. But is it really? Or are […]
As many know, lighting represents 25-30% of a distributor’s sales. Lighting is typically defined as lamps, ballast, and fixtures (and some people add in lighting controls). It is an important part of a distributor’s business albeit lighting projects are frequently low […]
Several months back we noted with interest that “Too Big to Fail Banks” were getting taxpayer cash infusions. Still they don’t loan money for all sorts of reasons. But in the W.S.J. article “U.S.Firms Build up Record Cash Piles” written […]
Or is good old fashion common sense come back in fashion? It seems as if some regional banks have discovered that they have money lying around not earning money. After all, their product is money. Several weeks ago I began […]
If you are a distributor, and the business has been struggling, you might be thinking: Why should I hunker down and try to ride this economic downturn only to have to start all over trying to rebuild my wealth? I’ve […]
Maybe … especially if we (the industry, not your specific company) want profitability. You may remember SAP’s marketing theme of a couple of years ago that basically of “The best-run businesses run SAP”. With a multitude of electrical manufacturers turning […]
