With fall just around the corner, we’re getting close to the dealer buying group meetings, or as I like to say, learning time. Among the reasons manufacturers are willing to be part of your group (and yes, offer those back-end rebates) is the opportunity they get to show and tell you about all of their…

When our forecasting partner John Muldowney and I talked over this year’s equipment and supplies market forecast, we could really only come up with one or two negative trends. Forecasts for all of the macroeconomic indicators that impact foodservice—employment trends, disposable income, personal consumption spending, consumer confidence, food and energy prices—look to improve for the…

TriMark USA, the nation’s largest E&S distributor, likely will be under new ownership by the end of August. Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm, has entered into an agreement to acquire the South Attleboro, Mass., firm from Audax Group. Since partnering with equity firm Audax eight years ago, TriMark has grown from a $250 million…

TriMark USA Pres./CEO Jerry Hyman was obviously very busy in the wake of the announcement of the deal with Warburg Pincus, but we caught up with him on the fly. In an exclusive interview with FER Fortnightly, he detailed three aspects of the deal he believes are important. “For those who may not know, Warburg…

In 1929, Sam and Morris Schwartz, two brothers from Ukraine, started manufacturing and distributing beer equipment in lower Manhattan. The pair later formed Supreme Metal Fabricators and Advance Food Service Equipment. Eighty-five years later, the two companies are connected again. On July 23, Georgia-based KinMetal LLC, doing business under the name Advance Tabco, acquired certain…

Growth of foodservice equipment and supplies sales should accelerate in 2015, reaching 4.8% in current dollars, according to Foodservice Equipment Reports. The new forecast was presented during FER‘s annual President’s Preview E&S Market Forecast meeting, held July 29 at the Westin O’Hare in Rosemont, Ill. Growth is forecast at 4.4% for the current year following…

Ace Mart Restaurant Supply recently unveiled its annual Factory Representative of the Year Award. The winners, DJ Marketing’s David Miller, Jeff Miller and Ryan Miller, and True Mfg.’s Randy Bates and Lee Elliott, were honored during a Houston event. They were selected by Ace Mart associates from each of the San Antonio dealer’s 15 Superstore…

There is a new Internet-based source for operator’s most frequently needed foodservice equipment parts: Popular Restaurant Parts, which specializes in stocking only the top 1,000 parts used in foodservice kitchen equipment and selling them to service companies and equipment dealers. The Wyoming-based company was founded by industry veteran Dave Morris, who also serves as v.p.-sales.…

There are only a few days left for dealer members of

I’ve spent a great deal of time the past few weeks trying to explain the market for foodservice equipment and supplies to private equity and research companies. Some big deal must be brewing or maybe there are several deals in the works because the focus of their probing is different. Such companies come to us…