Is a PW Roll-Up Possible? Worthwhile?

[powerwashstencils]

In the mid-nineties, a guy named Jon Ledecky did was then coined a "roll-up". Basically, he gathered a bunch of independent office supply stores and formed them under a single public company, U.S. Office Products. Initially it was a hailed as a great idea, but eventually it went belly up.

However, I have always wondered if the same logic (without hopefully going belly up) could be applied in the PW industry. I'm guessing (and I mean I'm guessing) that 80%+ of the PW's in the US are independents, servicing a relatively small geographic area (1-2 counties), and that there buying power is not much greater then that of the average consumer. If on the other
hand, you had a much larger organization (a public company formed from many independents) that could service the entire US, and could purchase by leveraging their size, would it be worthwhile?

Any thoughts? Anyone ever thought of it? Ridiculous? Sacrilege?


Thanks Marc

 

[David Saulque]

This is an interesting concept, the model is similar to True Value Hardware ACE and other independents striving to compete with chains and pricing. The cornerstone of this program is distributor and wholesale purchases along with house brands. The reason why this model would not work based on our industry is simply we do not buy the quantity of product that would keep the program on an even road. Service is difficult to manage over multi states without a single supplier leverage control over the members.