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Home » Blogs » Distribution Operations » Recommended Reading: Market Leaders Embrace Change

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Eric Smith / Distribution Technology / Distribution Sales & Marketing / Distribution Trends / Distribution Management & Strategy / MDM Market Leaders / HD Supply / MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. / Wolseley / W.W. Grainger

Recommended Reading: Market Leaders Embrace Change

June 20, 2017
Eric Smith
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Eric Smith, Associate Editor

Some of the industry's largest distributors – including Grainger, HD Supply, Wolseley and MSC Industrial – are shaking things up in response to changing market demands. These MDM Market Leaders and others aren't afraid to restructure their pricing, retool their business divisions, rebrand their company or refocus their value proposition.

"In almost every vertical market, you can find people who are growing and are successful because they have either adapted to the current market conditions or they have made changes in their business model … ," James Teat, president, Axcess Technology Source LLC, Carrollton, TX, tells MDM for our annual Market Leaders issue (out June 25).

Here are what these four leading distributor have done in recent months. Are you also adapting your company?

  • Is Grainger's Latest Online Move the Right One? – With the launch of Gamut.com, Grainger once again expands its presence on and investment in e-commerce. But with all of the other moves the company is making to shore up its online presence, is launching a new site the right move?
  • DeAngelo: Selling Waterworks 'Transformational' for HD Supply – The long-rumored sale of HD Supply's waterworks business finally occurred, and the divestiture – its fifth in three years – will be another "transformational" move for the company, according to President and CEO Joe DeAngelo.
  • Wolseley Embarks on Significant Transformation – Wolseley plc is facing a host of changes, including a rebrand, new CEO and divestment of one of its regional businesses, the company announced when reporting earnings for the first six months.
  • MSC CEO: Digital Competition 'Remains a Threat' – Even as e-commerce sales grew to 59.8 percent of its overall sales in the first quarter, MSC Industrial Supply's focus is on moving the business toward "technical, high-touch product lines such that the MSC value proposition becomes way deeper than just price and transact," according to Erik Gershwind, president and CEO.

Learn more about what these and other companies are doing when we publish the list of the Top 40 industrial distributors, as well as the top distributors in 14 other sectors, on June 25. (View the 2016 lists.)

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