My first WDA Convention in almost two decades was a rude awakening.
Consolidation. That's the mantra I kept hearing. That's the reason for all the missing wholesalers.
Some truth to that, no doubt. One can't deny there are fewer wholesalers around now than, for instance, in 1983. That was the last year of my first term on the staff of Supply House Times. In our write-up of the 54th Annual Wholesale Distributors Association Convention that year, we reported a record 1,146 registrants.