In plumbing, wholesalers are reporting price hikes of 15–35% across copper, steel, and PVC since the tariff chatter began. Distributors caught between rising supplier invoices and contractors reluctant to absorb increases face an unenviable choice: raise prices and risk losing volume, or protect customer relationships and watch margins evaporate.
With more than 150 manufacturers, thousands of contractors, and show-only deals, APR’s annual event is cementing its place as one of the premier wholesale buying shows in the country.
Every summer in Hershey, Pennsylvania, APR Supply Co. hosts one of the largest plumbing and HVAC wholesale buying shows in the nation. Now in its 103rd year, the 23rd Annual Buying Show attracts plumbing and HVAC/R installers from within a 150-mile radius of the company’s Lancaster, PA headquarters.
The DOE’s 2025 efficiency standards bring new rules for water heaters, boilers, and plumbing fixtures—impacting PHCP wholesalers’ inventory, pricing strategies, and contractor relationships.
The 2025 standards are a reminder that regulation is never static. But wholesalers who position themselves as both compliance experts and trusted advisors can turn these challenges into an opportunity to strengthen contractor relationships—and protect their margins in the process.
The solution automates RFQ workflows and accelerates supplier communications, helping supply chain businesses cut cycle time, reduce manual work, and make fast, confident purchasing decisions.
Brass Knuckle has created the Distributor Advantages brochure. It outlines how Brass Knuckle looks out for distributors just as its products look out for wearers in the field. Download Distributor Advantages here.
This merger of equals within the U.S. PHCP industry brings together two member-owned groups consisting of 325 independently owned PHCP distributors in the U.S. and will be part of the overall AD community of over 1,000 independents spanning nine construction and industrial verticals and fourteen divisions within the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.