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WELL-TIMED GROUP MERCHANDISING CONFERENCE PROVIDES BUYERS & SELLERS WITH GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES
Atlanta, Georgia - Home improvement industry distributors met with manufacturers during the Group Merchandising Conference organized by PRO Group, Inc. and Val-Test Distributors June 23-25, 2008 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown Atlanta. According to Steve Synnott, CEO for PRO Group, Inc, the timing of the annual event is ideal, the conference format itself is structured around efficiency and cost savings for attendees, who cover multiple meetings during a two day period rather than having to make additional trips. Approximately 890 scheduled 30-minute meetings are conducted between buyers and sellers over the course of two days in Atlanta. The Group Merchandising Conference allows distributors and vendors a growth opportunity that is especially welcome now in the current challenging economy, Synnott said. “Special buys pave the way for retail placement of new products and categories, end-cap display units, plan-o-grams, pallet displays and promotional merchandising assortments that will fuel growth for vendors, distributors and retailers." The meeting format features scheduled buyer/vendor appointments in private suites throughout the Embassy Suites Hotel, with Vendors offering conference specials and reviewing benefits of new products, merchandisers, displays and promotions to attending buyers. PRO Group has hosted this conference for several years and this is the second year distributors from the Schaumburg, Illinois-based Val-Test participated. Attendees included 38 Distributor team members, PRO Group and Val-Test corporate office personnel and 95 individuals representing vendors. The Group Merchandising Conference is tailored to the needs of distributor buyers and is unlike any other conference due to the hands-on nature of the product displays shown in a highly efficient environment. Click here to read the Press Release
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Rick Brambley (center) of Coleman-Cable meets with Distributor, Gerald Tuckness (left) of the Buttery Company, at the 2008 Group Merchandising Conference. |
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Tish Nakayama (left) and Ron Tomson (right) of Shark/Takagi Tools strategize between appointments. |
FARM MART DISTRIBUTOR, CISCO, HELPS MIDWESTERN RETAILERS REBUILD
Many customers of The Cisco Companies, a FARM MART Distributor based in Indianapolis, Indiana, have been hit quite hard by the Midwestern floods and tornados. And Cisco is doing its part to help them rebuild. According to Don Robison, vice president of sales for The Cisco Companies, when much of south central and southern Indiana was hit by huge amounts of rain on June 6 and 7 many of the company’s customers were impacted. Just one week earlier a series of tornadoes hit southern Indiana. The impact to Cisco’s customers has been significant. Cisco has put together a program to help long-term customers rebuild and stay in business, including 90-day terms, elimination of fuel surcharges and offering substantial discounts. “It’s the right thing to do. We are giving back to customers that have supported us,” Robison said. “We want them to survive.” According to Robison, Cisco’s biggest challenge right now is working with vendors who are trying to raise prices retroactively on products such as fertilizer, steel and commercial chemicals. As a company, Cisco had an all time record high sales and through the end of May, 2008 the company is up 18 percent. Click here to read the Press Release.
BUILDING PERMITS
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 969,000. This is 1.3 percent (±1.2%) below the revised April rate of 982,000 and is 36.3 percent (±1.3%) below the revised May 2007 estimate of 1,522,000. Single-family authorizations in May were at a rate of 623,000; this is 4.0 percent (±1.5%) below the April figure of 649,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 314,000 in May.
Source: http://www.census.gov/const/newresconst.pdf
HOUSING STARTS
Privately-owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 975,000. This is 3.3 percent (±10.7%)* below the revised April estimate of 1,008,000 and is 32.1 percent (±5.1%) below the revised May 2007 rate of 1,436,000. Single-family housing starts in May were at a rate of 674,000; this is 1.0 percent (±9.9%)* below the April figure of 681,000. The May rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 280,000. Source: http://www.census.gov/const/newresconst.pdf
HOUSING COMPLETIONS
Privately-owned housing completions in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,132,000. This is 11.6 percent (±11.8%)* above the revised April estimate of 1,014,000, but is 26.9 percent (±6.4%) below the revised May 2007 rate of 1,549,000. Single-family housing completions in May were at a rate of 869,000; this is 8.9 percent (±12.2%)* above the April figure of 798,000. The May rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 248,000.
Source: http://www.census.gov/const/newresconst.pdf
PHIL HANSON NAMED DIRECTOR OF SALES AND CUSTOMER SUPPORT
C. H. Hanson Company, a family-owned and managed operation, has a successful history that dates back to 1866 and offers more than 1,000 products in more than eight categories. Recently, the company has focused on creating strategic partnerships to introduce innovative hand tools that make job site tasks easier, faster and safer in residential, commercial and industrial construction and maintenance industries. To support their new initiatives, the company has named Phil Hanson, Executive Vice President, as its Director of Sales and Customer Support. Mr. Hanson has been charged with goals of increasing sales revenue, improving end-user brand awareness, gaining placement of new products and programs, and further penetrating new and existing channels of distribution. New product innovations include Pivot Square, SuperPencil, Slide Square and the Chalk Hog line of chalk reels.
STANLEY WORKS TO SELL CST/BERGER TO BOSCH
Tool giant Stanley Works has announced two deals to help limit its exposure to the U.S. housing market, including a deal to sell its CST/berger laser measuring business to Robert Bosch Tool for $205 million. The company also announced plans to buy Sonitrol, the security monitoring company, for $275 million from an investment group comprised of three firms: Carlyle Group, Wachovia Capital Partners and Spire Capital Partners. "These two transactions are important steps toward advancing our growth strategy and repositioning the company to be less dependent on construction and DIY markets," said John Lundgren, chairman and CEO of Stanley Works. "We continue to be strongly committed to shifting the company's portfolio into higher-growth, higher-return areas such as electronic security. The addition of Sonitrol, with its iconic brand and strong franchisee and direct sales network, expands the scale of our existing North American monitoring operation." In addition to the two transactions, Stanley said it is "developing plans to exit several small, non-strategic product lines during the remainder of the year with associated revenues of approximately $60 million." Details of those smaller product lines were not announced and have yet to be finalized, the company said. Source: Home Channel News
UPCOMING DISTRIBUTOR SHOW DATES & EVENTS
FREEDOM
“In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved”
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