Winona, MN-based Fastenal — No. 10 on Industrial Distribution's 2016 Big 50 List — reported its August sales on Thursday, led by a considerable gain in total sales, but flat daily sales.
The company posted total August sales of $364.9 million, up 9.9 percent year-over-year, with daily sales up 0.3 percent as August 2016 had two more selling days than in 2015. The flat daily sales growth was down sequentially from July's growth of 2.1 percent. Still, it added to what has been a positive 2016 for Fastenal in terms of daily sales growth, following four straight months of decline to end 2015. Here's how the past 13 months of the company's daily sales growth has looked like:
- August 2016: +0.3 percent
- July 2016: +2.1 percent
- June 2016: 0.0 percent
- May 2016: +1.1 percent
- April 2016: +3.8 percent
- March 2016: 0.0 percent
- February 2016: +2.6 percent
- January 2016: +3.3 percent
- December 2015: -3.8 percent
- November 2015: -1.1 percent
- October 2015: -0.8 percent
- September 2015: -0.3 percent
- August 2015: +1.6 percent
August daily sales to manufacturing customers decreased by 0.2 percent year-over-year, while sales to non-residential construction customers decreased by 2.8 percent.
August daily sales of fasteners products declined by 4.1 percent year-over-year, while sales of all other products increased by 3.1 percent.
Fastenal opened three new stores in July, bringing its year-to-date openenings to 32, and quarter-to-date (Q3) total to five. In the company's Q2 fiscal report on July 12, the company said it expected to open 30 to 45 new store throughout 2016. Fastenal's total store count at the end of August was 2,610.
Fastenal's total employee headcount at the end of August was 19.891, up 1.4 percent year-over-year. After decreasing its selling headcount by 1.9 percent from June to July, that count — 12,957 — dipped by another 1.8 percent from July to August. Year-to-date, Fastenal has lowered its total selling personnel count by 773.
