Respondents reported calendar-year-to-date sales growth of 24%. For the trailing 12 months ending March 2022, respondents reported strong sales growth of 23.7%. 

Raritan Group announced its recent hire of Donna Macaron, who will join the team as an Industrial Sales Specialist. In her new role, Macaron will be accountable for creating strategies to improve profitability and increasing sales. 

Respondents to ASA’s monthly sales report reported a median sales increase of 27% for February 2022 vs. the same February 2021 timeframe. These results reflect another month of robust performance compared to the same month a year ago, though compared to January 2022 totals, the median sales growth was a more modest 4.5%, reports Industry Insights, which prepares the report for ASA distributor members. 

Wolseley Industrial Group announced it has officially changed its name to Ferguson Industrial. The business has been operating as part of Ferguson for the last 15 years, but kept Ferguson’s parent company former namesake, Wolseley, until now.

Supply House Times did a quick spot check with a few valve manufacturers to get their take on the commercial/industrial landscape heading into the new year and beyond.

In terms of trends, Rick Wentzell, marketing division executive at Bonomi North America, says designers, engineers and industrial end-users are now looking to ensure the valves they order are chemically correct.

There’s an undeniable sense of entrepreneurship that flows throughout the independent distribution industry. PVF master distributor Wayland Industries is a prime example, with 103 years of history behind it; for four generations now, members of the Kurstin family have started master distribution companies within the PVF sector.

January 2022 results of ASA’s monthly sales report reflect another month of robust performance compared to the same month a year ago, though most respondents reported declines in sales when compared to December 2021, noted Industry Insights, ASA’s business intelligence partner that prepares the report each month for ASA member distributors. 

One of the father-daughter activities myself and said daughter enjoy is listening to music on car rides, specifically anything in the 1970s-1980s genre. Apparently, my daughter is a teenager going on 40 years old. Her tastes range from The Carpenters to Twisted Sister and Vanilla Ice. Like father like daughter. As we were listening to a recent Motley Crue song, she indicated the band had a lot of hidden gems on B-sides of albums. Who would have known? That a today’s teenager knows what a B-side album is, now that’s impressive. “Too Young To Fall in Love” is one of my favorite underrated Crue songs, though I’m not sure if that was a B-sider or not.

Respondents reported a median sales increase of 20.5% for November 2021 vs. 2020. In comparison to the previous month (December 2021 vs. November 2021), respondents reported a modest decline in sales of -2.2% (the previous monthly sales report had a 3.5% increase in the same category; November 2021 vs. October 2021).  

Edward J. Nierman, a founding partner of Canton, Massachusetts-based Independent Pipe & Supply, Canton, Massachusetts passed away on January 15, 2022, at 98 years of age. Nierman was a pioneering giant in the world of pipe, valves and fittings. A man of modest upbringing, he joined his parents in their small, used plumbing supply business. He and his brother Al expanded the business in 1950 into Independent Pipe & Supply.