1/15/2016 5:21:00 PM
NEWS BRIEFS
Fastener Sales Declined at Fastenal During 2015
Fastenal fastener sales
For Fastenal’s fastener product line, the opening months of 2015 started strong before fizzling as the year progressed.
Fastenal Co. reported its fastener product line has seen its daily growth decrease from about 10% growth in the last six months of 2014 to about 6% contraction in the fourth quarter of 2015.
“Our (fastener) market share gains continue to be strong, but the contraction from our existing customers, plus some price deflation, has eliminated our growth and created contraction,” the company stated.
For 2015, the company’s fastener product line saw sales decline 1.4%, compared to sales growth of 6.9% the previous year.
That decline included a 5.5% gain in sales during the first quarter; no growth in the second quarter; a 4.4% decline in sales during the third quarter; and a 6.2% decline in the final quarter.
Overall sales increased 3.6% in 2015 to $3.9 billion, despite a 0.4% decline in the final quarter of the year. Daily sales gained 3.2% to $15.2 million, while full-year net earnings improved 4.5% to $516.4 million
During 2015, Fastenal added 1,668 employees to its stores. The company’s overall store workforce grew 13.6% to 13,961 employees during the year.
Fastenal opened 41 stores during 2015, and closed or consolidated 50 more. The company indicated it would ramp up store openings in 2016.
“After several years of holding back on store openings and even contracting our total store base, we plan to expand our pace of store openings in 2016 with a goal of opening 60 to 75 new stores (an increase of approximately 2% to 3% over our number of stores as of December 31, 2015).”
On October 31, 2015, Fastenal acquired certain assets of Fasteners, Inc., a regional industrial and construction supply distributor with store locations in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Fasteners, Inc. was founded in Spokane, WA, in 1961. The business included 13 stores and 2015 revenues of approximately $36 million. Web: fastenal.com
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