Outside the Top 10

Travel farther down through the rankings and the landscape begins to shift, despite a few notable bright spots. Among dealers with sales volumes between $100 million and $300 million, California-based Kamran & Co., now ranked No. 17 with revenues of $145 million, stands out for revenues gains of 31.85% in 2024 and nearly 25% in 2023. A significant portion of Kamran’s growth likely came from the acquisitions of Top 100 dealers Culinex and Atlas Restaurant Supply, as well as Berlin’s Restaurant Supply. Great Lakes Hotel Supply, too, has shown steady and solid growth, particularly since coming out of the pandemic. Now ranked No. 20 with 2024 sales of $134 million, the Michigan-based dealership grew its sales volume by more than 7% in 2024, 2022 and 2021, and in 2023 achieved 12.6% sales growth.

Last year, however, more than half (53.8%) of dealerships in that $100 million to $300 million volume group, ranked No. 11 to 23, saw revenues decline or remain flat (less than 2% gain) year-over-year. As a group, these 13 mid-sized companies’ combined volume inched into flat to negative territory, at -0.32% for the year.

And for the industry’s smallest players, 2024 was especially tough. Half of those with sales of $50 to $100 million remained flat or declined, while more than 70% of the 63 Distribution Giants companies with sales below $50 million had flat or falling revenues over the prior year. While small companies often face high hurdles and volumes can shift significantly at that level from year to year depending on specific projects awarded, the data suggest the hurdles have gotten higher for many. Looking back to the 2016 Distribution Giants study, just over 40% of companies with 2015 sales below $50 million experienced flat (less than 2%) or falling year-over-year sales.

YOY Sales Down or Flat (less than 2% gain) 

Source: FE&S Distribution Giants studies