Inside Watsco’s Market Leading Buy and Build Strategy

I eagerly anticipated writing this MDM Case Study series on Watsco, as I consider its strategic approach unique in the North American B2B distribution.  Watsco operates as a traditional distributor in many markets with multiple brand names, and it has a series of joint ventures with Carrier Corporation — a manufacturer of HVAC Carrier and Bryant products. In these cases, I refer to Watsco as a “Disty-Manu.”  As the term infers, the line between distributor and manufacturer (or “Disty-Manu”) is blurred, or — if you prefer — exclusive enough to have the manufacturer and distributor integrated…