| March 19, 2008 | News for the wholesale distribution industry |
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- U.S. housing woes drag down Wolseley profit
Wolseley CEO Chip Hornsby said his company is doing a region-by-region strategic analysis to plot its next moves, after the company reported that its profit dropped by nearly one-quarter for the six months ended Jan. 31. Wolseley's North American division was especially hard-hit, with Stock Building Supply closing 22 locations and reporting a 25.7% drop-off in sales. Modern Distribution Management
(3/17)
    
- Sysco's Florida redistribution center open for business
Confronted with rising transportation costs, Sysco has opened a 500,000-square-foot redistribution center in Alachua, Fla., designed to help lower prices by combining the purchasing power of five distribution centers in the state. Baugh Southeast Cooperative Inc., Sysco's second such redistribution center, reportedly was slated to begin ordering products this week and is scheduled to start shipping early next month. The Gainesville Sun (Fla.)
(3/16)
| Best Practices | | |
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- Steering a company through troubled waters
Assuming the helm of a company in the midst of a crisis is no easy task, so make sure you know precisely the nature of the situation you are getting into, as well as the expectations of the board of directors or whomever else you'll be reporting results to. Forbes
(3/14)
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- Key questions to help make Web site company's best salesperson
A company's Web site can be its best salesperson, but to develop the site into a powerful presence, four questions should be asked: Does the Web site know everything about your business that it should?; how often do you measure the site's success?; does the site have training on business fundamentals?; and does the Web site feature all current products, services and pricing? Entrepreneur.com
(3/13)
| Small Business Manager | | |
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| Executive Life | | |
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- GPS users: Proceed with caution
GPS devices working off of wrong or outdated records have sent some drivers into dead ends or even into oncoming traffic. Clifford Nass, a Stanford University communication professor, urges consumers not to swap their common sense for gadgets. "Rather than trust our judgment of nature, we let technology tell us what's going on," he said. The Wall Street Journal
(3/18)
- Continental, TSA test electronic boarding passes
Continental Airlines has started testing electronic passes that allow travelers to pass through security and board a plane without a paper boarding pass. The TSA is working with Continental on the tests. "We definitely see this as the wave of the future," a TSA spokeswoman said. "It's something we are very enthusiastic about pursuing." The New York Times
(3/18)
| NAW Insider | | |
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Register for NAW's Large Company Financial Networking Conference
NAW's Large Company Financial Networking Conference is in Chicago, May 13 to 14. It joins top-level financial executives from wholesale distribution companies with sales of $100 million and above to network and learn. Agenda topics are based on responses from the financial community and address specific needs of the group, including risk management, strategic pricing and generational demographics. Get the details and register.
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New downloadable Wholesale Distribution Economic Reports
Download individual economic analysis reports that are most relevant to your business from the 19 major wholesale distribution sectors in the 2008 Wholesale Distribution Economic Reports. These reports supply a wealth of channel benchmarking data, including revenue and employment growth trends, the number and size distribution of companies, gross margins, wages and many other operating statistics. Quantity discounts apply.
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Transform your sales force for the 21st century
Distribution companies, by their nature, should be sales-oriented companies. However, many distributors don't do sales very well. That's the premise behind Transforming Your Sales Force for the 21st Century, Second Edition. Written by Dave Kahle for distribution sales managers and executives, this new second edition provides a blueprint to transform sales forces into highly directable, effective and focused performers.
| Weekly Poll | | |
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Does your company rely on workers who require H-2B visas?
After voting once, check out the real-time poll results on NAW's All Access page as often as you'd like.
 | Yes, and we still do despite the cap. |
| No, we never have. |
| We did, but we have had to find another source of workers. |
| SmartQuote | | |
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 | In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."
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- Thursday, March 13, 2008
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- Monday, March 10, 2008
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