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Home » Blogs » Management & Strategy » Top 5 Newsmakers in Wholesale Distribution: 2009
Lindsay Young Konzak

Top 5 Newsmakers in Wholesale Distribution: 2009

By    Lindsay  Konzak 
December 21, 2009 Comment (1)
More about:  HD Supply,  MDM Blog,  Motion Industries,  Wolseley
MDM's list of headline-makers in 2009.
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1. The Economy
No surprise: The economy tops our list of the top newsmakers in the distribution industry in 2009. The past year was one of the roughest in memory for most MDM readers, with nearly every end market suffering. Hear what Adam Fein expects for 2010 in his 2010 Economic Forecast for Wholesale Distribution.

2. Wolseley plc and Stock Building Supply
Wolseley made headlines with its sale of the majority of its struggling Stock Building Supply to the Gores Group, a private equity firm that now owns 51% of the building materials distributor. Wolseley expects the divestment will significantly improve profitability, a key challenge over the past year when it posted a $1.8 billion annual loss. About $700 million of that was due to losses sustained by Stock. (Read more Wolseley news)

3. The Government
As a result of the economic collapse, the government's economic stimulus package promised to inject money back into the economy. While we have yet to see significant results from the government's spending plans, some distributors are still looking at 2010 and 2011 government infrastructure and other project funding plans to supplement some of the spending lost from residential, automotive and other hard-hit sectors.
 
4. Motion Industries
Motion continued its expansion into the industrial supplies distribution sector with its purchase of General Tool & Supply, a regional industrial supplies distributor based in Portland, OR. The deal followed Motion's acquisition of Drago Supply, Port Arthur, TX, the previous fall. Motion also announced this week that it had agreed to acquire Vancouver-based BC Bearing's North American assets. That move is part of Motion's increased focus on Canada. (Read about Motion's expansion in industrial supplies.)
 
5. Bankruptcies
We saw many bankruptcies among distributors serving the residential construction sector, including some larger distributors filing for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection, Building Materials Holding Corp., Stock Building Supply and Orco Construction Supply, whose assets were purchased by HD Supply White Cap this year. But the residential sector wasn't alone. Any distributor that played a part in the automotive supply chain was hit by a series of large bankruptcies among car makers and their suppliers. (Read: Chrysler Bankruptcy's Ripple Effect, and MDM Interview: Auto Bankruptcies Hit the Channel.) More bankruptcies in more sectors are expected as we move into 2010.

 

 
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