The Home Depot plans to open three new distribution centers within the next year and a half in metropolitan Atlanta, part of a five-year, $1.2 billion investment in supply chain facilities to meet rising demands from e-commerce. The home improvement retailer is striving to provide 90% of the US population with same-day and next-day delivery, up from 50% currently.

Henry Schein reported a loss of $10.8 million on revenue of $1.68 billion in the second quarter, both down from a year earlier.

The logistics and warehouse sector has been "writing a new script each and every day" during the coronavirus pandemic, with changes in warehouse site selection and greater adoption of robotics, writes consultant John Boyd. He also predicts accelerated reshoring and greater demand for cold storage.

Andy Golden explains how to reach the "Goldilocks" business-to-business buyer -- prospects who know they need a solution, are conducting their own research to find a vendor and could be "just right" for your business. He emphasizes the importance of using intent data to identify these buyers and describes strategies to gather insights and score prospects.

Taylor Holland provides an in-depth guide to mapping buyer journeys and creating data-driven personas to deliver the right content to the right prospect at the right time. Holland explains what questions marketers should seek to answer during five major stages in the customer journey to develop a deep understanding of buyer needs and facilitate an empathetic approach to content.

The pandemic, economy and political situation are all causes of chronic stress that require leaders to take care of themselves, help people who seem to be withdrawing and communicate an optimistic but realistic message about the future, writes Michael Lee Stallard. "Effective leaders continually look ahead, scanning the horizon for opportunities as well as possible disruptive challenges or threats, and they prepare to address them," he writes.

If you missed NAW's July webinar with Ian Heller, you can watch it on demand. Wholesale distribution has never seen disruption like what we're seeing today. Ian provides an overview of current and upcoming technology disruption in the industry that is driven by new, advanced technologies and outside entrants. He discusses how these technologies will change customer expectations and how distributors should change to meet them. Also download the 20-page research report that provides even more intelligence. Sponsors are Unilog and SAP.

Are you well-informed about different best practices and knowledge in our industry? If not, NAW's Top 10 E-book List can help get you up-to-speed quickly so you and your business can stay competitive in these challenging times.

Mark Dancer says, "As some distributor leaders drive their businesses to offer unique customer experiences, enabled by new operating models, they are finding that their company's traditional knowledge and skills are coming up short. Leading-edge distributors already know this, and so they are competing on continual innovations and embracing the practice of building an innovation ecosystem, which consists of outside advisors, vendors and partners to help them generate ideas, provide design assistance and help with implementation." Read his post.