Consolidation rocks welding distributors. (includes related article on welding manufacturers' refusal to sell their products via catalog distribution)

Industrial Distribution, September, 1997 by Johnson, John R.

INDEPENDENTS ARE DISAPPEARING RAPIDLY AS ABOVE-AVERAGE CONSOLIDATION CONTINUES IN THE WELDING INDUSTRY It's no secret that consolidation is taking the distribution industry by storm. Nowhere is that more true than in the welding industry, where consolidation has been even greater than in other industry segments.

According to John Derrickson, executive director of the National Welding Supply Assn., 75 companies left the ranks of NWSA last year. Most of those were distributorships that were acquired and ended up on NWSA's member list as branch locations. And although NWSA gained 50 members in the same year, the net loss was still 25 firms. Although the buyout trend cooled somewhat over the summer months because of astronomical asking prices, it is...

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