Crawford Electric Supply, Dallas, TX, a subsidiary of Sonepar USA, has opened a new branch in New Orleans, LA. The facility includes a 48,000-square-foot warehouse, with a full-service counter area focused on the pipe, wire, lighting, and electrical business. More

PrimeSource Building Products Inc., Carrollton, TX, will buy Miami, FL-based Coast to Coast Building Products Inc., according to news reports. The acquisition expands PrimeSource’s network into the Southeast as well as the Caribbean and Central America. More

HD Supply, Atlanta, GA, has launched its two new proprietary brands, Seasons and Brigade. The Seasons brand will be carried on products such as kitchen and bath fixtures and ceiling fans, ultimately used by consumers, while Brigade will be carried on heavy duty products, such as tools and hardware, ultimately used by professional contractors and trades people on the job. More

Honeywell, Morris Township, NJ, has agreed to buy Norcross Safety Products L.L.C., Oak Brook, IL, a manufacturer of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), for $1.2 billion. Norcross, majority owned by Odyssey Investment Partners, manufactures protective and safety equipment for the fire service, utility and general industrial worker segments. Norcross will be integrated into Honeywell Life Safety, part of Honeywell’s Automation and Control Solutions (ACS) group.  Norcross’s revenue was $609 million in 2007. More

The Timken Company, Canton, OH, has opened two new manufacturing facilities in Asia, adding to its ability to serve aerospace and industrial markets.  More

Swagelok Company, Solon, OH, has acquired Coreflex LLC, Bowie, MD, a manufacturer of hose products used mostly in semiconductor, biopharmaceutical, and other applications. More

Praxair Distribution, Inc., Danbury, CT, a subsidiary of Praxair, Inc., announced discount reductions and price increases for its industrial, medical and specialty gas cylinder customers in the U.S. and Canada. The company said the price increases were due in part to escalating labor, energy and fuel costs and limited global availability of raw materials for certain products. More

U.S. privately owned housing starts in March were down 11.9 percent from February and down 36.5 percent from March 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. More

U.S. wholesale prices increased 1.1 percent in March, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported. This advance followed a 0.3 percent rise in February and a 1.0 percent increase in January. The rise in the index for finished goods less foods and energy (core inflation) slowed to 0.2 percent from 0.5 percent in February. More

February U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $308.50 million, according to the Association for Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors’Association. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was down 4 percent from January, but up 4.4 percent from February 2007. With a year-to-date total of $624.28 million, 2008 is up 1.2 percent. More

Canadian output in January rebounded smartly from a sharp drop in December, reflecting a widespread increase in demand. This was consistent with employment, which picked up steadily through the first quarter.  More

Sales of Canadian manufactured goods rose 1.6 percent to $50.1 billion in February, due in part to a gradual bounce-back by Canada’s motor vehicle industry. This marked the second successive increase in manufacturing sales, as manufacturers continued to make up ground lost after a tough December (-3.7 percent). More

Industrial production rose 0.3 percent in March after having dropped 0.7 percent in February. For the first quarter as a whole, output declined at an annual rate of 0.1 percent. More

Huttig Building Products, Inc., distributor of millwork, building materials and wood products, reported a net loss of $9.8 million for the first quarter 2008, compared with a net loss of $3.4 million in the year-ago period. Sales fell 25 percent to $166.8 million. More

French electrical manufacturer Legrand has acquired Estap, manufacturer of VDI enclosures and cabinets in Turkey, The move underscores Legrand’s accelerating expansion on emerging markets, which accounted for 50 percent of its organic growth in 2007.  More

Watsco, Inc., Coconut Grove, FL, reported revenues for the first quarter 2008, were up 3 percent to $380 million compared with the same period a year ago. The increase includes 63 locations opened or acquired over the past 12 months, adding $49 million to sales in the quarter. On a same-store basis, sales fell 10 percent. More

Chicago, IL-based Grainger reported sales of $1.7 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, up 7 percent from the prior-year first quarter. Profit for the quarter was up 12 percent to $114 million. More

Swedish manufacturer SKF’s sales for the first quarter 2008 were up 8.5 percent in SEK, with 4.9 percent attributable to volume, 1 percent to structure, 3.8 percent to price and mix, and -1.2 percent to currency effects. More

Genuine Parts Company, Atlanta, GA, reported sales for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008, were $2.74 billion, up 3 percent. Profit was $123.5 million, up 2 percent. EIS, GPC’s Electrical Group, sales were up 7 percent in the quarter, Motion Industries a 6 percent increase, and The Automotive Group a 4 percent jump. More

Illinois Tool Works Inc., Glenview, IL, reported 11.4 percent growth to $4.13 billion in the first quarter 2008. Organic growth was 0.4 percent, with international base revenues growing 4.6 percent and North American revenues falling 2.5 percent. More