“We made the commitment to buy in large quantities just to have the inventory. Inventory is gold these days. People need their products to keep operating.”
— George Tobia President BRESCO
with different manufacturers allowed the project to open on time. “We’re not (tied to) any one manufacturer,” Capobianco says. “Who can’t get me something hasn’t cost me a dime. It’s cost me maneuvering.”
Changing Strategies
With lead times and pricing so uncertain right now, dealers like BRESCO have rediscovered the value of keeping more inventory on hand. The company repurposed its warehouse to hold more stock. “We made the commitment to buy in large quantities just to have the inventory,” Tobia says. “Inventory is gold these days. People need their products to keep operating.”
Culinary Depot was working toward a new inventory approach even before the pandemic took root. The company’s new East Coast distribution center was part of an overall strategy to move away from a drop-ship model in favor of keeping more equipment in stock so that it could offer next-day delivery. Alongside that expansion came a new ERP system and other warehouse technologies to allow for faster picking and improved quality control. Together, those improvements put Culinary Depot in the ideal situation to manage the supply chain shortages and the company wants to continue building in that direction. Culinary Depot is hiring more salespeople and is expanding its West Coast distribution center from 10,000 to 50,000 square feet so that it can provide customers in that part of the country with 24- hour delivery by Q1 2022.
In addition to building up inventory, distributors are making the most of the stock they already have. Lichter calls it “cleaning up the old garage.” Items that are scratched and would have been difficult to sell in the past can now find new life with operators desperate for something that works and less concerned about how it looks.
18 FEDA News & Views
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