Just before the holidays, MNB had a story about how Dollar General is helping to finance a new Blair, Nebraska, distribution center by charging vendors "10 percent of the estimated cost of purchases required to fully stock the new DC to support regular shipments to the assigned store base." I found this troubling on some levels - a classic case of a retailer making money on the buy, not the sell - and MNB readers suggested that this was just the tip of the iceberg.
I wanted to know more … and so I reached out to David Friedler, president and managing partner of Simpactful, who spent a quarter century in the CPG business, to get an accurate read on the problem, and a sense of whether there is a fix for it (or even should be).
I hope you enjoy my conversation with David Friedler.
If you'd rather download and listen to The Innovation Conversation as an audio podcast, click below.
You can reach David Friedler of Simpactful at david.friedler@simpactful.com
