The Gustave A. Larson Co. announced it closed on the purchase of Progress Supply, Inc. (PSI), on December 17, 2021. Progress Supply is a long-time established and successful multi-location HVAC and Refrigeration distribution company in central and southwestern Ohio, southeast Indiana and northern Kentucky.

Founded in 1922 as Lebanon Plumbing Supply, APR Supply Co. is now guided by third generation owner, President and CEO Scott Weaver. Since its inception, APR Supply Co. has grown from a single location to 39 branches and 9 Oasis Kitchen and Bath Showrooms throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

“As we enter into 2022,” — when you say that out loud it sounds a lot like “2020-2.” Don’t be alarmed, I believe things are moving in a positive direction. I have laid out trends that I see as important factors moving into the new year. I am not going to prognosticate about where the stock market is going, but rather about what I feel is going to be the most important factors impacting supply houses across the country.  

On Dec. 7, 2021, more than 27,000 customers of Amazon Web Services (AWS) — which includes Ring Security Cameras, Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video, Facebook, Venmo and more— experienced site outages, slow streaming or complete shut-offs of services. The outage also affected Amazon’s ability to deliver on its usually two-day shipping promise and delayed updates for customers.

There are certain world/U.S. events that you can recall exactly where you were when they happened. The first in my upbringing was the attempted assassination of President Reagan. I was walking up to our front porch after getting off the school bus when my mom told me about it. The Space Shuttle tragedy: I was in school that day. If my memory serves correctly, we had a grainy TV on that was on one of those huge school AV carts.

Winsupply has completed the purchase of both H2O Supply locations" One in Dallas, Texas and one in Fort Worth, Texas.

Digital presence can be somewhat of a buzzword in the PHCP-PVF industry as it continues to adapt and evolve in an accelerating digital age. Each company may have a different definition of what digital transformation means to them. For Fargo, North Dakota-based PHCP distributor Dakota Supply Group, it’s simply about delivering the best online solutions to its customers.

Congressman Smucker toured the new distribution facility and was one of the first to see APR’s latest implementation of warehouse automation. While on site, Congressman Smucker took time to address the APR warehouse 1^st shift teammates, along with the corporate and leadership teams. 

Net sales of $6,803 million were 26.6% ahead of last year, 24.5% higher on an organic basis with 1.8% from acquisitions and a further 0.3% from the impact of foreign exchange. Inflation in the first quarter was in the low teens.

After enduring a unique set of challenges through 2020 and 2021, industry experts are excited to move forward into another high-demand year. The excitement is coupled with caution, as supply chain constraints, material pricing and labor shortages are not expected to resolve themselves in the near future.