Good year for wholesalers

By J. Hays Wimsatt Wimsatt Brothers, Inc. Louisville, Ky.

This leads to the third reason that we think we'll have more business. The independent dealers who have lived through the last ten years and the build-up in chain competition are a lot stronger and smarter. They are much quicker to recognize the value of their investments in time and inventorv. A good wholesaler can help them maximize these assets, both tangible and intangible.

From time immemorial we have been told to control our costs. train our people, know our customers, understand the numbers of our business. Up until just a very few years ago, while we believed what we were hearing, we really didn't worry if some of the hard work of shaping-up was pushed aside for awhile. This applied to many pretty good companies at every level ofthe business. Ifwe have survived, we not only know what to do but we're doing it today.

Of course, the business that's out there in our market never stays neatly in old, comfortable channels. New companies and old companies with new ways get to the consumer with more appeal and better prices. This will accelerate in '86 and will soak up a lot of the increase we expect.

In short, we expect the total market in southeastern United States to grow a bit next year and we think wholesale distributors will increase their share just a bit too. One thing is almost certain: there will be no easy pickings in 1986 for anybody in our business, dealer, wholesaler or manufacturer.