Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/276079
6 FEDA News & Views Industry Insights A Strong and Stable Distribution Channel Jim Hanson President Best Restaurant Equipment & Design Inc. jhanson@bestrestaurant.com F rom an early age, when I entered this industry, I was told if you want to be successful in your industry, you must get involved with it…be there. I learned early on that when you attend a lot of industry functions on a continuing basis, you can tell a lot about the general state of our industry by how people talk about things. Judging from the "happy talk" at some recent industry events, it appears that the economy and our industry have come back around, which is great news for all of us. For those of us who have been around in the foodservice business for a while, we have seen some real ups and downs. It seemed for a while that our indus- try was almost invincible because, from my perspective at least, even when the economy did turn down back in the 80's and again in the 90's, restaurants con- tinued to build. It wasn't until 9/11 and then again in 2007-2009 that we really felt the brunt of a massive downturn. But that appears to be behind us, at least for now. Of course we have other threats and opportunities to focus our attentions on… ➤ The Interior Designer Coalition (ASID) is still a huge threat and will continue to be for years to come. I've had FEDA members and non- members ask me about this issue and they've wondered why we still need to work to collect money to fight it. Well, I think you have to look at this issue as a chronic dis- ease, and our continuing to fight it is essential to keeping it from overtak- ing us. We likely cannot stomp them out because, like a vicious disease, the designer coalition (ASID) con- tinues to strike in various locations and morphs their approach to try to get a foothold. The risks of allow- ing them to win even one battle are simply too high. We were fortunate to find and enlist the services of Patti Morrow, and for the foresee- able future, we need to continue to support her efforts. ➤ The Internet, which many dealers saw initially as a huge threat, has turned out to be just that to some, but to many who have embraced it, it has been an exciting new avenue for growth. With more and more manufacturers figuring out how to maneuver into MAP pricing and MRP, our industry has been able to begin to manage and abate some of the negative aspects of Internet advertising and sales, and I believe more manufacturers will see the advantages of these MAP and MRP tools as time goes on. ➤ Consolidation, a natural byproduct of a maturing industry on both the dealer side as well as on the manu- facturer side, has been interesting to watch. We have seen some real success stories and some that have not been as successful as one might expect. Some of it has been very visible and others have been done on a quieter scale, but it contin- ues to grow and this will likely be something that continues to change and challenge our industry for many years. Just as in the past, there are and will be many challenges and opportunities that will continue to present themselves in the coming years. One thing we can all be grateful for is that together our manufacturers and dealers have built a very strong bond. I believe it is this foundation that, to date, has been able continued on page 30