You can generalize that consolidation has been the big story in 2006, with The Home Depot at center stage, but that would be missing the bigger picture. The real story is how quickly the world has become smaller, flatter ﾖ how North American markets have been impacted by global shifts, induced by customers, competitors, suppliers, or all three.
Distributors have been in the best position to realize the observations of the best selling book of a few years ago that coined the term (Must read: The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, by Thomas L. Friedman.) Consider the rankings in the U.S. in 2003 and now.
London-based Wolseley, the $25-billion global distributor of building materials, plumbing and HVAC supplies, tops a list that a few years ...
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You can generalize that consolidation has been the big story in 2006, with The Home Depot at center stage, but that would be missing the bigger picture. The real story is how quickly the world has become smaller, flatter ﾖ how North American markets have been impacted by global shifts, induced by customers, competitors, suppliers, or all three.
Distributors have been in the best position to realize the observations of the best selling book of a few years ago that coined the term (Must read: The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, by Thomas L. Friedman.) Consider the rankings in the U.S. in 2003 and now.
London-based Wolseley, the $25-billion global distributor of building materials, plumbing and HVAC supplies, tops a list that a few years ...
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