After three years, national distributor PoolCorp and buying group United Aqua Group (UAG) have chosen to end their partnership.
Officials from both companies decided that the outcomes of the relationship weren’t working for them.
PoolCorp CEO Manuel Perez de la Mesa told PSN that the strategic alignment was not producing the sales his company had hoped for.
“We did not realize the anticipated change in behavior,” he said.
“Specifically, the basis of the relationship would be that their members would buy proportionately more from distribution, and that did not materialize in any significant way.”
He added that PoolCorp still maintains good relationships with individual members of UAG.
In a press release, UAG CEO Pat Walls seemed to imply a dissatisfaction with the partnership: “Our two organizations didn’t align, and UAG needs to look for other distribution partnerships that will provide us better pricing and stronger rebates.”
Walls added that his organization represents approximately $55 million in annual sales through distribution.
Observers may have batted an eyelash or two at hearing about the partnership in February 2015, because buying groups and distributors can sometimes have adversarial relationships. But the companies said it made sense: While buying group members prefer to benefit from their collective discounts as much as possible, they still must turn to distributors for their same-day needs.
According to the arrangement, UAG received rebates of an undisclosed rate from PoolCorp cumulatively on all purchases made by the organization’s members.
