wiredinUSA May 2014

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wiredInUSA - May 2014 25
Fasteners
up in first
quarter
The number of stores open in the first quarter
were up 0.9 percent year-over-year to 2,683.
FAST Solutions machines – the distributor’s
industrial vending initiative – were up 31.7
percent to 42,153 vending machines.
Employee count was up 16 percent
year-over-year to 17,788.
According to the earnings news release,
sales growth in the first quarter was primarily
due to higher unit sales. Growth was
impacted by slight inflationary price changes
in non-fastener products and some price
deflation in fastener products, with the result
being a slight drag on growth, although daily
sales for the first quarter grew 8.7 percent
from the same period in 2013.
Fastenal Company of Winona,
Minnesota, has reported first
quarter sales of $876.5 million, an
increase of 8.7 percent over the
previous year. Net earnings were
$111.9 million, up 2.6 percent from
the same period in 2013.