2017 was an incredible year for wholesale HVACR distribution. Seventeen of Distribution Center's Top 50 Distributors reported double-digit sales increases for fiscal year 2017. That surpasses last year’s survey, when 13 of the Top 50 distributors enjoyed double-digit growth in fiscal year 2016.
Of the 67 companies that responded to this year’s survey, plus the two for which we estimated, 91 percent had higher sales in fiscal 2017, up again from 90 percent in fiscal year 2016. The average increase in fiscal year 2017 was 8.5 percent. A record 98 percent of distributors surveyed are projecting a sales increase for fiscal year 2018, averaging 8.9 percent.