Heating, Airconditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) reported North American HVACR distributor sales for the month of June 2010 were up more than 10% from last year in its Monthly Targeted and Regional Economic News for Distribution Strategies (TRENDS) analysis. This marks the fourth consecutive month in which overall distributor sales were up from the previous year.  

All of HARDI’s seven U.S. regions were up in June, with four exceeding double-digit growth. Canada continues to remain strong as the only HARDI region to stay in the positive 12 months running.  

According to HARDI’s Chief Economist Alan Beaulieu, “The average 3.0% drop in annual sales [running 12 months] is the smallest decline reported among HARDI Members in over 14 months.”   

The hot weather across most major U.S. markets has certainly helped fuel June’s strong numbers, but so too has the steadily increasing rate of sales of high-efficiency equipment.  HARDI’s recent joint survey with JP Morgan Equity Research showed nearly a third of HARDI distributors having 16 SEER equipment make up more than 15% of their total unitary sales so far this season.  

June’s Sales TRENDS Report also debuted a new indicator of distributor efficiency by reporting the month’s Sales per Employee by region and company size. This first month shows 2010 well ahead of year-end 2009 and 2008 levels, further reflecting the positive shift in product mix. However there were several significant variances between distributors of various sizes and geographies.   

For more information on this and other TRENDS reports, contact HARDI’s Talbot Gee at 888-253-2128 or tgee@hardinet.org.