New buildings, additions and non-housing construction kept distributors buoyant in an otherwise dismal market for fasteners. OEM, machine tools and MRO fastener business was down nearly across the board but, in some cases, specialties like agriculture OEM sparked growth.

Jim Smith, president of Nail Fast, Inc., in Albuquerque, N.M., said his business in 2001 "was not affected as badly as some" because construction kept pace while machine tools bottomed out. The majority of his business is in construction power tools and anchors, nails and pins used with those tools, he said. Sales numbers in 2002, however, remain questionable.

"This year will be soft since some bigger [construction] jobs are winding down," Smith said. "But it won't be like some other sectors. Housing is soft right now based on the Albuquerque economy. It isn't growing and housing is saturated."

Smith hears at industry meetings that distributors in other areas of the country are experiencing the same softness.

Florida is a different story, according to Bob Frosio, president of Fastening Systems, Inc., a construction fastener and tool specialist with nine locations in Florida. Sales last year were even with 2000, but 2002 is looking better with first quarter numbers up seven percent from a year ago, he said.

"This year will be real strong, based on permits," Frosio said. "Permits are well up all over the state."

The company's main markets are single and multi-unit residential buildings and a close indicator of activity is building permits, he said. His company employs 55 people.

Hot products this spring include a palm-sized nailer with magazine that holds a single clip of positive placement nails, said Frosio. The nails are used to secure hurricane strips and other code-mandated materials. The cost is about half the price of the standard tool, he said.

Other specialists weathered the economic drop-off and have had steady growth for over two years.

For example, Des Moines Bolt Supply, in Des Moines, Iowa, added two branches last year. The company saw sales improve every month in 2002 (through April) over a year before, according to owner Erik Eggland.

He points out that 2001 was not a terrible year, by any means. In fact, Eggland's business grew last year and he brought on five new employees.

Both 2000 and 2001 were steady sales years and, though last year was down, it was not devastating to any of his business sectors, he said.

One of Eggland's methods of keeping business strong is broadening his product offerings. Des Moines Bolt has continued to add lines despite downturns in the economy and consolidation of vendors elsewhere in the marketplace, he said. He also works on faster response to customers and unbundling his services to find new areas of revenue.

Eggland has an e-commerce enabled Web site for the benefit of his customers, and stressed that he wants to be business partners with them.

"It is our goal to create cost savings that will result in a profitable business relationship with our customers," he said.