The more EM’s editors dig into the new electrical market data we offer subscribers as part of their annual subscription, the more we learn about the business profile of each state’s electrical market.
In some states the business is quite consolidated, with the majority of electrical sales flowing through just two or three Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) (see chart linked below). The business in other states, like California, North Carolina and Ohio, flows through more metros.
Electrical sales are very concentrated in many states. For example, according to our calculations, the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale MSA accounts for approximately 79% of all sales to electrical contractors and industrial accounts in the entire state of Arizona. The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA MSA (59.9%) and Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV MSA (69.2%) have a similar if not as dramatic impact on the states of Washington and Nevada, respectively. In Texas, EM estimates 81% of all electrical sales flows through the Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Midland and Odessa metros and that Dallas and Houston themselves combine for 60% of total sales.
Analyzing the flow of electrical sales through a state is more than just an interesting intellectual exercise. Distributors need to have enough branches, inventory and sales personnel deployed in the largest MSAs; reps need to devote a higher mix of their sales time to the big markets in their territories; and manufacturers need to have the right sales representation and inventory stocked by distributors in the biggest MSAs.
You may be surprised what you learn when you compare your investment in sales, inventory and branch resources in a local market against that metro’s portion of its state’s total electrical sales potential.