Grainger reported July sales increased 10 percent versus July 2010.
Results for the month included a 1 percentage point positive contribution from acquisitions and a 2 percentage point contribution from foreign exchange. Excluding acquisitions and foreign exchange, organic sales increased 7 percent, including 8 percentage points from volume and 2 percentage points from price, partially offset by a 3 percentage point decline from oil spill related sales in 2010. In 2010, Grainger provided safety and related products used to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which contributed approximately 1 percentage point to total company sales for the full year.
Are you seeing growth that is comparable to the results that Grainger is experiencing? Most of my customers are feeling confident that things are getting better. They are typically seeing top-line growth although the bottom-line is not following the same pace. Hopefully the recent European crisis will not be a repeat of 2008!
