The recession is over, experts say. In fact, some economists question whether we were ever in a recession, which by definition means two consecutive quarters of negative growth. But anyone in this business knows that the manufacturing sector has been in a recession for more than 18 months, as thousands of factory workers have been laid off, plants closed or consolidated, and some distributorships have filed for bankruptcy.

The latest victim of the recession is one of the largest distributorships in the country: Integra Integrated Procurement Solutions, which filed for bankruptcy in March (see story p. 21). Originally founded in 1998 as Industrial Distribution Partners, Integra had all the ingredients for success. The driving force behind the company was Rudolf Huyzer, who made a name for himself as an acquisition specialist in the office products area. Huyzer acquired 70 companies for Netherlands-based distributor BT Office Products, expanding revenues from $35 million to $1.6 billion in seven years.

In the industrial distribution business, he and his management team quickly purchased some outstanding distributors like Ross-Willoughby Co., J. Fegely & Sons, Scheibert Safety Supply and Sanders Tools and Supplies.

Integra's goal was to become a $1 billion company and a dominant provider of integrated supply products and services. Eventually, Huyzer hoped to take the company public.

What went wrong? Some say it was the company's focus on integrated supply or the emphasis it was placing on its end user markets — particularly automotive. Others say the company acquired others too quickly.

Regardless, it's a case of a consolidator failing to grow as expected. Everyone in the 1990s, it seemed, was looking to expand by acquiring other distributors. Roll-ups, mergers and geographical expansion through acquisition were said to be the ways to survive.

We recently spoke to an independent distributor who once thought of selling his business to a national company but ultimately decided against it. His business grew 11 percent last year.

"Everyone predicted that the big guys were going to gobble all of us and that we were dinosaurs," he said. "We've survived and we're continuing to grow by focusing on what we do best, namely, be a niche player."

Integra will not be the last distributor to slip into bankruptcy because of the recession. Other companies may follow.