Staples' 5th Anniv
In June'17 vulture capitalist Sycamore Partners bought Staples for $6.9Bn. The industry quaked! What has happened since? Proficiency Post chronicled its demise from $16Bn down to a current $8Bn with the ex-powerhouse a shell of its former self. What do leading vendors and IDC think? We surveyed and report here to date
Essendant: Big call
Leading business supplies wholesaler Essendant's leadership team justhosted dealers and suppliers at a virtual Town Hall event. It proved a great opportunity to connect and share latest market perspectives; top economist Brian Beaulieu's view; plus new initiatives. We spoke with president Harry Dochelli on key takeaways...
Mason's Blizzard
Warren Buffett owned Dairy Queen (DQ) had issues with business supplier WBMason's labeling of its 'Blizzard' branded water, but the Minnesota federal judge ruled 'no customer confusion'. DQ sued in 2018 but WB's lawyers were always confident claims were "ridiculous". PP dives inside the saga...Updated
Create cool hybrid
Even before Covid some organizations began experimenting with mobile work, shifting ownership for spaces and offering more choice for people to move where they worked based on their activities. Some companies allowed hybrid work, giving employees flexibility to WFH. Now, the practice has become the mainstream even those who believed it wasn’t a fit for them.
The Proficiency
The Q1'22 reporting season is complete. Proficiency Index have analysed results and separated out the price inflation element, from real volume performance. HPInc, HPE, ABM, UNFI and Costco were the last companies to report inflated profits fueled by high price hikes; a total of 90 companies analysed
Unilever's "evil
Giant hygiene and health care maker Unilever secretly fought ban on plastic sachets for its Sunlight soap & Sunsilk shampoo, that it branded ‘evil’. It privately lobbied against countries' efforts to get rid of soap packaging, despite pollution pledge
Envoy packages
The hygiene and packaging market is on fire with M&A activity happening almost weekly! Bunzl, Bain Cap's Imperial Dade, FEMSA's Envoy and BradyIFS lead the way (now add CNG) in consolidating regional jansan dealers. Envoy just announced its 14th acquisition of a custom packaging supplier in Pennsylvania to top $1.5Bn sales...
Tork targets hybrid
Flexible offices and hybrid working models have created new hygiene challenges – and today’s employees are becoming increasingly focused on health and wellbeing. Health and hygiene products maker Essity has created the Tork Office Hygiene Package, a tailor-made selection of services and support tools to elevatec welbeing
Depot's deranged
Office Depot aka ODP ceo Gerry 'Bizarro Smith's deckchair shifting diversions and distractions from its core competence knew no bounds. Now, following the mad March decision to use Doordash for deliveries, is sanity returning? A year ago, the board absurdly agreed to separate retail from business delivery, to facilitate a sale. Now its reversed the delinquent decision...
European packaging giant DSSmith, the $7Bn ex-owner of Spicers until 2011, posted strong year end results to 30 Apr'22. CEO Miles Roberts said it was boosted by the huge price rises on single digit volume growth in its ecommerce packaging business
Back to School
MasterCard projects strong retail growth in shopping for the upcoming school year, with physical stores seeing a larger increase than webstore traffic? Surely, the reports conclusion is obvious given the post Covid retail recovery?
Essendant: Big call
Leading business supplies wholesaler Essendant's leadership team justhosted dealers and suppliers at a virtual Town Hall event. It proved a great opportunity to connect and share latest market perspectives; top economist Brian Beaulieu's view; plus new initiatives. We spoke with president Harry Dochelli on key takeaways...
CNG plays paper
Central National Gottesman Inc. (CNG) the $7Bn paper merchanting group has acquired a key paper and packaging distributor in the US midwest. Has the giant reawoken to the M&A opportunities after its second acquisition in a month following a barren year? CNG division Kelly Spicers chief Jan Gottesman comments...
Is Environmental
Any time the stock market falls, investors are likely to rethink nearly everything. The current gut check comes in the evolution of the Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) industry when funds rose 38% to $2.7Tn by March year end. NYTimes' Ron Lieber discusses progress...
Bunzl bundles
Bunzl plc, the $14Bn international business supplies wholesaler, announced agreements to acquire a German hygiene supplier and a NZ meds distributor. These were the first acquisitions of the year, well down on the 'norm 10pa rate' in previous years
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