With a population of about 10.51 million residents, North Carolina is the 14^thmost populous state in the United States. With a large population comes a large consumer market. Retailers are on the ground to satisfy this but they have to work with retail distributors to get their bulk supplies.

North Carolina is one big state with a lot of retail sales. Lots of products are taken to the state every day because of the demand from there. It is not the most populous American state but the population is quite large in millions. This translates into high demand for essentials and products that cannot but be daily consumed by human beings.

The state used to be a predominantly agricultural state until manufacturing took the front burner. This reduced food production and the population dealing in agriculture went down to around a staggering 2 or 3%. Though there are more players in the services sectors as digitalization is gradually disrupting society, the need in the consumer market is becoming more demanding.

Just like every other American state, there are essentials that are needed daily by Americans. Food, shelter, toiletries, clothes, electronic gadgets, transportation, and a whole lot of essentials are needed by the average human being for existence in the 21^stcentury world.

North Carolina has an impressive percentage of retailers and those involved in the supply chain. In 2006, there was an estimated 19% of the workforce employed in the sector. This shows a solid customer base for retail distributors. But first, let’s break the retail business down.

A retail store is an essential part of the supply chain – it is the point where the consumer can get items to purchase. All other points in the supply chain don’t directly deal with the final consumer. However, retail stores are almost everywhere. You can find a convenience store in almost every neighborhood. Thus, competition is tough.

The retail business is basically the sale of goods to consumers. It is that outlet that deals in the transfer of the product to the last person in the supply chain – the consumer. The retail outlets could be the supermarket, the retail stores, the grocery stores, the convenience store, and many others.

Retail distributors are essential links in the supply chain. When manufacturers produce their products, they need distribution for the product. There are several situations where the manufacturer does the distribution to retailers. This is direct store delivery. However, not all manufacturers have the capacity to do their own distribution to retail outlets. For instance, a new brand still seeking market recognition does not have a name in the market and will need to be significantly promoted and pushed. A retail distributor can do a better job of getting the product to several hundred or even thousands of stores.

Merchants Distributors (MDI) is a wholesale grocery store distributor headquartered in Hickory, North Carolina. It supplies over 600 retail food stores and foodservice distributors within and outside the United States.