Distributor News

Small business lending remains down following two years of attempts by Washington to revive it. The latest remedy to surface is President Barack Obama's $30 billion plan to offer capital to small banks with incentives to loan it to small companies. That plan passed the U.S. House of Representatives on June 17, but it's not clear if it will manage better than previous efforts to increase the supply of credit by pumping money into banks.

ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwire - June 15, 2010) -  InkHead Promotional Products, Atlanta's premier distributor of promotional products including personalized pens, promotional tote bags and custom water bottles, will move its operations into the new Park Place corporate suite in the heart of the historic City of Winder. The new location will officially be the largest office space in the city and is prompted by InkHead's remarkable growth. Since 2006, the lean, agile company has shown yearly growth between 15 percent and 35 percent each year. Team InkHead was also recently named by the Atlanta Business Chronicle (ABC) as one of Atlanta's Top 10 Promotional Product Firms.

CHICAGO, Jun 24, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- InnerWorkings, Inc., a leading provider of managed print and promotional solutions, announced today three long term enterprise print management contracts. These new clients include:

-- Ferguson Enterprises, Inc. - a diversified wholesale distributor of plumbing, HVAC/R, waterworks, fire protection and Industrial products with more than $9 billion in annual sales.

-- Payless ShoeSource, Inc. - the largest specialty family footwear retailer in the Western Hemisphere.

-- SiriusXM - America's satellite radio company.

China’s economy has benefited from an abundance of cheap labor since the 1980s. But the recent suicides of 10 employees of electronics manufacturer Foxconn Technology and the massive strikes by employees of Honda have caused its government, and a number of companies, to increase wages for an increasingly resentful workforce. Ravi Ramamurti, Northeastern University distinguished professor of international business and director of the Center for Emerging Markets,  analyzes China’s labor struggles and their impact on the global economy.

Due to a major storm and power outage in Connecticut, Prime Line will be closed for the remainder of the day on Thursday. All phones, website and computers have been affected.

Prime Line will attempt to ship out many of the orders that have been completed even with the power out.

GatewayCDI, a promotional products and incentive company based in St. Louis, held their biannual sales meeting this May.

Salespeople from across the nation flew in to take part in the three-day conference. GatewayCDI hosted a vendor fair featuring preferred suppliers, and ran an off-site strategic sales seminar with a focus on Facilis, GatewayCDI’s sales platform.

(Reuters) - Dov Charney's American Apparel is a staple of urban hipsters around the world for its colorful T-shirts, spandex leggings and other edgy, "Made-in-USA" retro apparel.

But what the company could really use is a suit -- that is, a button-down, business grown-up type to complement the outspoken, volatile Charney, according to a growing number of people on Wall Street.

Investors' patience with Charney, a self-described hustler and the company's founder and CEO, is waning as the eccentric apparel visionary finds himself in troubled financial situations time and time again, they say.

And yet, Charney may have pulled himself and the company out of another hole, by negotiating a key debt revision with its main lender. Sources close to the company said they fully expect American Apparel (APP.A) and its main backer, British-based private equity firm Lion Capital, to reach an agreement that will prevent the company from a looming debt covenant breach.

Midlothian, Texas-based Ennis Inc. has reported financial results for the first quarter ended May 31, 2010.

For the quarter, consolidated net sales increased by $9.9 million, or 7.6 percent, from $130.8 million for the quarter ended May 31, 2009 to $140.7 million for the quarter ended May 31, 2010. Print sales for the quarter were $67.8 million, compared to $71.7 million for the same quarter last year, or a decrease of 5.4 percent. Apparel sales for the quarter were $73 million, compared to $59.1 million for the same quarter last year, or an increase of 23.5 percent. Overall gross profit margins ("margins") increased from 23.7 percent to 30 percent for the quarters ended May 31, 2009 and May 31, 2010, respectively. Print margins increased from 26.4 percent to 30.3 percent, and Apparel margins increased from 20.4 percent to 29.7 percent, for the quarters ended May 31, 2009 and May 31, 2010, respectively. Net earnings for the quarter increased from $6.6 million, or 5.1 percent of sales, for the quarter ended May 31, 2009 to $13 million, or 9.3 percent of sales, for the quarter ended May 31, 2010. Diluted EPS increased from $0.26 per share to $0.50 per share for the quarters ended May 31, 2009 and May 31, 2010, respectively. The company, during the quarter, generated $23.7 million in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) compared to $14.3 million for the comparable quarter last year.

As part of the strategic integration of Norwood Promotional Products and BIC Graphic operations, BIC Advertising & Promotional Products (APP) began an evaluation of business opportunities related to the Auburn, Indiana-based Messenger operation in the Fall of 2009. Several options were evaluated, including the sale of the business.

Bridgeport, Connecticut-based Prime Line's president and CEO Rick Brenner teamed with Arnold & Porter attorney Jennifer Karmonick to present a seminar on product safety and the impact of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) on our industry at PROMOTIONS EAST two weeks ago in Atlantic City, NJ. The purpose of the seminar was to educate suppliers and distributors about how they can protect themselves and their customers through a better understanding of state and federal product safety legislation.