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11 Sep 22

Updated: 11 Sep 22

Hybrid work hung
over distractions

In-office perks, luring RTO
make it harder to focus

"So you wanted to get work done at the Office? Some are nostalgic for the silence they had at home, especially since in-office perks, aimed at luring people back, can make it harder to concentrate" headlines NYTimes 'Future of Work' writer Emma Goldberg.  We discuss the dilemma facing 'personal productivity' conscious hybrid workers

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11 Sep 22

Updated: 16 Sep 22

New Age of the
A Z U R E  worker

A-Z (All) from Ubiquitous
Resourceful Entrepreneurs

The Industrial (blue collar) age was overtaken by the Information revolution (white collar) in the early 80s. As a result the OP industry boomed for 25yrs. The digital age driven by Apple, Google & AMZN exploded from 2007, sparking a new entrepreneurial revolution where smart mobiles enabled everywhere, paperless, officeless working. Welcome to the Age of the AZURE Workers ...How will resellers service their needs? Complete

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8 Sep 22

Updated: 12 Oct 22

Will Hygiene market
suffer OP tumult?

Rapid rollups raise doubts
on motivations of acquirers

The "It's like déjà vu all over again" quote may aptly describe the rapid rollups happening in the hygiene, foodservice & packaging supply market right now. Public company/VC backed players Imperial, Envoy and BradyIFS are acquiring regional dealers monthly. The big question: will the consolidation process mirror the OP bigbox market 30yrs ago and end in tears of disintegration? 

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29 Aug 22

Updated: 29 Aug 22

The Office’s
Last Stand?

End of era of flexibility
or outright rebellion?

Giant $13Bn personal finance company Intuit subsidiary Credit Karma' chief peoples' officer Colleen McCreary recently delivered a message more apt for rising 6th graders than senior executives.“Back to school is coming. We’re getting excited about all of these returning-in-the-fall type activities" wrote NYTimes' Emma Goldberg. We review and comment...

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27 Aug 22

Updated: 28 Aug 22

Is the end nigh?

• PPP/ERC relief runs out
• Can trad dealers survive?
• Consolidations ahead?

Back in the 2019 'normal' days, OP & Jansan dealers were struggling with a slowing economy. Then disaster hit, Covid crashed demand to be relieved by PPP and Employee Retention payments. Now relief has run out, the BIG question is how will small trad transactional dealers survive? Should we expect larger progressive dealers to lead a new consolidation wave in the business supply market? We investigate.the market's views ..Complete

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26 Aug 22

Updated: 9 Sep 22

The Productivity
Paradox persists

ServiceNow: "How to tackle
problem". What problem??

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25 Aug 22

Updated: 25 Aug 22

AMZN Bezosisms
that rule the roost

16 terms: Day1 to CRaP to
Water Spiders to Frupidity

Like many successful growing companies an internal shorthand language develops to drive and measure team productivity, customer behaviour, supplier performance and of course, how employees view bosses. We've identified 16 terms that have emerged in Amazon's 28yrs meteoric rise to achieve $900Bn+ GMV sales in 2022 

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22 Aug 22

Updated: 23 Aug 22

Industry roll-ups'
'Integration' plans:
Real or rhetoric?

Imperial, Envoy & BradyIFS
acq'ns face tortuous tasks

The accelerating wave of acquisitions in the hygiene, foodservice & packaging market replicates the OP market back in the 90's. Back then Staples, CXP, Depot & USOP were rolling up dealers globally with grand plans to integrate systems and cultures. Little was achieved as multi-disintegrations proved. Today with a similar scenario playing out, what's gonna happen? Updated

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22 Aug 22

Updated: 23 Aug 22

Ex-'Adjacencies'
Go Mainstream!

Biz supply shifts from OP
to Hygiene, Food & Pkg

Reflecting on Bigbox Q2'22 reports it was notable that executives still refer to larger product categories of hygiene, foodservice and packaging as 'adjacencies' to the old OP mainstream. Indeed this mirrors their smaller sales mix, as it does with OP dealers. The broadline business supply market has moved on. We highlight progressives' best practices... Updated

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16 Aug 22

Updated: 16 Aug 22

ULine freight
charges fraud?

Expensive shipping cost
scams in cahoots w/UPS?

ULine the giant $8.8Bn packaging supplier has doubled revenues and profits over the past 4yrs. Closer analysis finds that its shipping charges add an average of +25% to customer prices in cooperation with delivery partner UPS. We discussed trading practices with defecting customers, rivals and compare with Amazon 

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