Industrial products wholesale buying/marketing group and contractor AD announced Tuesday that sales for all AD members across its seven divisions and three countries grew by 6.3 percent in the 2016 third quarter to $26.1 billion. The growth includes ongoing members, new members and losses due to consolidation. On a same-store basis, AD member sales grew 1 percent.
AD said that industrial and power transmission sales were down 5 percent year-over-year. In other industries: Electrical was flat; plumbing, PVF and HVAC was flat; and building materials was up 16 percent.
By country, AD U.S. was flat; AD Canada was up 6 percent and AD Mexico grew 25 percent.
Across all divisions and countries, member purchases from AD suppliers grew 7 percent and net distributions to AD members grew 12 percent.
"There’s a saying that comes to mind for macro-economic conditions like these, ‘one of the better responses to scarcity is not to slice the pie thinner, rather it’s to figure out how to make more pies,'" said AD chairman and CEO Bill Weisberg. "AD is blessed to work with many of the most collaborative and creative independents and suppliers in this industry."