The Wholesale Change Show

Hosted by Jonathan Bein, Ian Heller

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111

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Oct 2026

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October 27, 20261 hr 5 min

Wholesale Change: MSC’s AI Pivot, Sonepar’s $563M AI Bet, and Rexel’s Data Center Surge, with Guest Co-Host Lindsay Young

With Ian Heller out this week, Mark Brohan welcomes guest co-host Lindsay Young of 3 Aspens Media, a longtime B2B journalist and distribution analyst, to break down a packed week of Q3 earnings and AI headlines. We start at Amazon Business’ Reshape event in Nashville, where Amazon Business rolled out new AI tools for procurement. Then we dig into MSC Industrial’s 10% sales growth and its decision to write off $48 million of a digital commerce overhaul in favor of AI tools. On the electrical side, we cover Sonepar’s $563 million AI investment and Rexel’s 14.6% sales growth on data center demand. We also look at Genuine Parts’ Motion and its coming spinoff, plus a Simon-Kucher survey in which 76% of distributors expect their growth outlook to improve, and why pricing and near-$7 diesel still have executives on edge. Our lightning round covers national account price wars, big-bang ERP projects, AI-generated quotes, cost-plus pricing and whether Motion is worth more on its own. It was a big week in distribution. We break down what matters and why.

October 20, 202658 min

Wholesale Change: Fastenal’s Big-Account Surge, DigiKey’s 50% Growth Bet, and Two Storied Wholesalers Winding Down

Fastenal just posted a 15.5% quarter, but where did the growth come from? Ian Heller and Mark Brohan dig into the early earnings season, from Fastenal’s reliance on big enterprise accounts and its trimmed digital sales target to what AI is doing to inventory ordering times. Amazon Business, Walmart for Business, Home Depot, Grainger and AD all figure into the competitive picture. Then we look at DigiKey, which is investing $100 million in automation and says it’s on pace to grow more than 50% this year. We also cover Medline’s latest distribution center expansion and why automation is so much easier in a sealed-box warehouse than a broken-box one. We also unpack Winsupply’s push into Greater Philadelphia with a former Ferguson executive, and what inflation and diesel nearing $7 a gallon mean for distributors trying to pass costs through to customers. Finally, RNDC and Ascendant are winding down, and the stories behind them are a warning for the industry. Plus, a lightning round on Fastenal’s small customers, vending versus AI, fuel surcharges and who’s next to go in 2027. It was a big week in distribution. We break down what matters and why.

October 13, 202656 min

Wholesale Change: What M&A Buyers Really Want, McLane’s Driverless Trucks, and AI’s Failing Grade at the Parts Counter

Earnings season is about to kick off, and the deal scorecard is already coming into focus. Ian Heller and Mark Brohan break down what the latest M&A data says about why investors keep piling into MRO, fasteners and HVAC while construction supplies, where White Cap has the field largely to itself, gets overlooked. Fastenal, Watsco, Home Depot, Lowe’s and QXO all figure into the conversation. Then we turn to the robots. McLane’s pilot with Aurora puts driverless trucks on the road for a Berkshire Hathaway foodservice distributor, while warehouse robotics keep spreading through First Supply, NAPA and Southern Glazer’s, with Amazon’s robotic hand and Figure’s humanoids on the horizon. We also look at a Reshape Automation study that put ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini through industrial supply ordering (the top score was just 52%), and what a steady jobs report says about hiring, wages and the frontline workforce in wholesale distribution. Plus, a lightning round on private equity, driverless trucks, clean product data and whether distributors will employ fewer people by 2028. It was a big week in distribution. We break down what matters and why.

October 6, 202658 min

Home Depot's SRS Expansion Spree, Winsupply's Run to $10B, and Distribution's Frontline Workforce Gap

Distribution Strategy Group's "Wholesale Change" dives into Home Depot's aggressive branch expansion plan, which includes up to 50 new SRS locations as it pushes deeper into plumbing and HVAC behind its Mingledorf acquisition. We also unpack branch strategy across the industry, from Grainger's and Johnstone's dense branch networks to Winsupply's unique entrepreneurial, locally-owned model — now closing in on $10 billion in sales and backed by a fresh investment in AI. Then we turn to the frontline: why 60% or more of a typical distributor's workforce is deskless, and the real cost of ignoring them, with a look back at how Coke built commission incentives into its e-commerce rollout to win over its sales reps. Plus, our lightning round tackles whether SRS will out-build Ferguson, Watsco and Carrier to become HVAC's biggest branch network within five years. It was a big week in distribution. We break down what matters and why.

September 29, 202655 min

Wholesale Change: AD Buys Back SupplyForce, Rexel's $1.4B Data Center Bet, and Is Walmart Distribution's Sleeping Giant?

Distribution's buying-group wars are heating up again. Ian Heller and Mark Brohan dig into AD's reacquisition of SupplyForce, the national-accounts platform AD spun out decades ago and is now folding back in-house — its 18th acquisition to date — and what that means for independents trying to compete with the likes of Grainger for big national contracts. From there, it's another chapter in the data-center land grab, as Rexel agrees to pay $1.4 billion for Chicago-based GCC, putting it in direct competition with Sonepar for a construction wave that may be slower to materialize than expected. We also look at Lowe's testing drone delivery straight to the job site, regional plumbing and HVAC distributor Hills Distribution's national e-commerce push with Pex Universe, and why Walmart — quietly building out Walmart for Business and automating its distribution centers — may be the most underestimated competitor in wholesale distribution. Plus, our lightning round tackles whether Walmart-level automation will force mid-market distributors to catch up or fall behind. It was a big week in distribution. We break down what matters and why.

September 22, 202659 min

Wholesale Change: Fastenal's Secret AI Buy, Watsco's Plumbing Play, and Diesel Hits $6.28

Hosts Ian Heller and Mark Brohan dig into a busy week in wholesale distribution and what it means for industry leaders. We start with Fastenal's quiet acquisition of Rampp.ai, an agentic AI platform the industrial distributor has never formally announced, and what it signals about building AI capability in-house rather than waiting on ERP vendors. We also break down Watsco's move to acquire The Granite Group, a $500 million Northeast plumbing and HVAC distributor, its second major deal of the year following Jackson Supply Co. Then we get into diesel prices, which hit a record $6.285 a gallon, and how Builders FirstSource, Grainger, MSC Industrial, Ferguson, Sysco, Performance Food Group and US Foods are each absorbing the hit differently. Plus, a new ransomware report shows midmarket distributors are the real targets, and Office Depot retires the ODP name nine months after Atlas Holdings took the company private. It was a big week in distribution. We break down what matters and why.

September 15, 20261 hr 2 min

Wholesale Change: AI Agents, Sysco's $500M Cost Cut, and a CEO Shake-Up in Distribution

Distribution Strategy Group’s “Wholesale Change” is back! Hosts Ian Heller and Mark Brohan are joined by Brian Hopkins to break down a busy week in wholesale distribution and what it means for industry leaders. We start with customer service in the age of AI agents, then dig into Sysco’s plan to cut at least $500 million in costs by fiscal 2029 through automation and agentic AI. We also look at Genuine Parts Company’s Motion and the leadership team that will take the industrial distributor forward after its planned spinoff, plus a rapid series of CEO transitions at Crescent Electric Supply Company, Air Hydro Power and ABC Supply Co. Inc. Then we get into the numbers: wholesale sales, inventory ratios, freight costs and manufacturer demand. What are they telling distributors about where the market is headed? Plus, our lightning round covers Uline, Core & Main, Franklin Electric and Continental Battery Systems. It was a big week in distribution. We break down what matters and why.

September 8, 20261 hr 3 min

Wholesale Change: Wholesale Change: The Chief AI Officer Trend, Ferguson's $1.6B Bet, and What PMI Really Means for Distributors

Distribution Strategy Group's "Wholesale Change" is back! Hosts Ian Heller and Mark Brohan dig into a busy week in wholesale distribution and what it means for industry leaders. We start with Home Depot, Lowe's and Sysco all formalizing a chief AI officer role, and ask whether that title actually matters for mid-sized distributors or is just a headline grab for the giants. We also break down what the latest manufacturing and services PMI readings are really telling distributors about inventory planning, plus Grainger's $210 million investment in automating customer site inventory management. Then we turn to M&A: Ferguson's $1.6 billion acquisition of Flowworks, Winsupply's plan to add 1.6 million square feet of capacity across Ohio, Oklahoma and Georgia, and whether private equity is playing too big a role in distribution deals. Plus, our lightning round covers Amazon's robotic-hand fulfillment tech, the Lowe's Foundation's quarter-billion-dollar trades investment, and whether Ferguson itself could become an acquisition target. It was a big week in distribution. We break down what matters and why

September 1, 20261 hr 12 min

Wholesale Change: News, Analysis, and Opinions for Distributors

Wholesale Change is a weekly live news show for the distribution industry, hosted by Ian Heller and Mark Brohan. Each episode dives into the stories that actually matter to distributors—earnings reports, M&A, AD and buying group developments, Amazon Business, AI, and the strategies behind the headlines. This isn’t a neutral recap; it’s a news + analysis + opinion program. Ian and Mark bring decades of distribution and B2B expertise to: Explain what’s really driving the numbers behind public and private distributors Connect quarter‑to‑quarter trends across leading players Call out who’s talking about AI vs. who’s actually doing it Explore what industry shifts mean for mid‑market distributors trying to compete at scale

December 1, 202550 min

Inside Chadwell Supply: How a Great Culture Drives Great Business

This episode of The Wholesale Change Show features Mark Chadwell, who shares how Chadwell Supply became the largest privately owned multifamily maintenance supplier in the US. With a faith-driven, employee-focused culture and advanced technology, they serve over 50,000 customers across 36 locations. The show also highlights Tornet’s AI solutions for distributors and the Customer Experience RX program that boosts satisfaction and loyalty. It's a must-listen for anyone in distribution looking to excel in customer service and growth.