When I first read Dan Holohan's "What function does a wholesaler serve?" about a month before it appeared in last November's issue, I experienced that strange feeling of déjà vu. It's not that I felt as if I had read Dan's column before. It was that I felt I had spoken with the same manufacturer.
As you'll recall, Dan talked with a manufacturer who wondered aloud why his company should be sharing its profits with wholesalers. From the manufacturer's viewpoint, wholesalers are abdicating their traditional responsibilities to their vendors. He believes that wholesalers today are stocking less product, providing less technical help to contractors and asking for extended payment terms.