It’s tough sledding as an independent distributor, it seems, even in the best of times.
They go head-to-head each day against the resources and scale of far larger competitors — all while those bigger companies appear to continuously gobble up their fellow independents one by one.
Compounding those pressures of late, however, is a sluggish manufacturing environment that has left the heady days of the post-pandemic boom behind for most distributors.
Even so, the North American distribution market continues to hold onto its historically fragmented nature in many ways — including the broad range of smaller, independent distributors that press on amid both near- and long-term strains.
Each winter, Industrial Distribution compiles its “Watch List” to open the new calendar year: a survey of independent distributors nominated by industry associations and buying groups for their standout performances in what can be a tricky segment to navigate.
This year, the list features companies that offer a snapshot of the variety within the nation’s distribution sector overall — a collection of distributors with dramatically different histories, operations, footprints and workforces spanning nearly literally from coast to coast. They were founded as late as 2017 and as early as 1865, range from single locations with a staff numbering in the teens to those with multiple hubs and hundreds of employees, and provide everything from MRO products, tools and hoses to vendor-managed inventory, store room management and training and calibration services.
And from the largest distributor on this year’s list to the smallest, each heads into the new year with a determination to continue to grow its respective business — regardless of what economic forecasts may or may not have in store.
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This year’s list begins with Dunlap Industrial Hardware, which has served a range of customers and sectors from its home on the Everett, Washington, waterfront for 47 years. In addition to construction, utility and OEM customers, the company also provides products to the region’s fishing and marine segments — while stretching its footprint into both Alaska and Hawaii.
See the complete Watch List in the latest edition of Industrial Distribution magazine.
Dunlap Industrial Hardware
Nominated by: STAFDA
Top executive(s): James Dunlap, president; Rich Barnett, general manager
Headquarters: Everett, Washington
Year founded: 1978
Website: dunlapindustrial.com
Number of locations: 1
Key product categories: Power tools, safety, wire and rope
Total employee headcount: 21
Total SKU count: 24,000
Do you offer an e-commerce platform? No.
Additional comments: In Dunlap’s manufacturing facility, we custom fabricate and repair all types of chain and wire rope slings and assemblies. Our rigging shop crew, with their years of knowledge, can help with all rigging needs: high lead logging, tow truck winch line, load cables and chain binders, tugboat tow wires and bridles and lifting slings and assemblies. Our shop equipment includes a 500-ton wire rope press and a 250,000 lb. pull test machine, and our complete hydraulic shop stocks hose and fittings to repair or custom manufacture hydraulic assemblies to fill your needs, getting your equipment back on the job.
