How are Smokingpipes.com and Laudisi Distribution Group Related?

[AroEnglish]

I tried to do some reading and I not get that they’re both owned by Laudisi Enterprises. But why do both SP and LDG exist? It seems like I can buy pipes off of both but I normally go to SP because that’s all I’ve known until recently.

This question came up because I asked SP if a certain Peterson pipe was going to come in soon. The CS rep said that they’re not sure but they are in stock at LDG so they could order one for me but couldn't show me a picture (I’m guessing because it’s getting sold directly to me rather than going through the normal SP process).

Anyway, I'm just curious as to how this all works.

 

[kschatey]

Distribution and retail are typically separated in most industries for several reasons such as: required by law, distubution of risk, and/or tax purposes.

 

[AroEnglish]

Thanks! I did some further reading after reading your post and realized I didn't know the basic supply chain process.

I found this article which seemed to explain the basics: Differences Between Wholesalers, Distributors and Retailers - https://smallbusiness.chron.com/differences-between-wholesalers-distributors-retailers-30836.html

So in the Laudisi model, it seems like:

• Manufacturer: Peterson, etc.
• Distributor: LDG who sells to both SP and others
• Wholesaler and Retailer?: SP

 

[fireground_piper]

SP would just be your retailer.

Laudisi would fill the wholesale/distribution/importation for manufacturers they own or have partnerships with. A partnership example would be how they handle import/distribution for Gawith and Hogarth in America. Likewise for Peterson and Savinelli lines. They are also the distributor for C&D and their various house labels as some other examples.

 

[kcghost]

Classic American supply chain.

 

[daveinlax]

Classic American supply chain.

I'd say it's more like vertical integration. I don't know much about it but it seems to be a very popular business model in the tobacco industry.

 

[sablebrush52]

I'd say it's more like vertical integration. I don't know much about it but it seems to be a very popular business model in the tobacco industry.

It's nicely integrated set up. They also own C&D. A bit more service coverage than either MacBaren/Sutliff or STG/Lane.

 

[fireground_piper]

A logistics company is worth its weight in gold for any manufacturer and retailer. From the manufacture side, you only need to work with your distributor which allows you to focus on your product and not invest in a logistics department to supply your retailers. It puts the full logistics on the partner to get product out to the broad network. You can focus on just dealing with your partner instead of a thousand partners across the country.

From a retailer perspective, if your catalog of products is in the hundreds or thousands, a partner who handles multiple products that you carry cuts down your partner count as well. Example, you can order all of your Peterson, Savinelli and C&D inventory from a single source instead of treating each individually.

Some distributors may also warehouse your goods for you if you want like an Amazon pending your business model.

 

[swilford]

Other people covered this pretty well, but here's a tidy way to think about Laudisi's business units:

Cornell & Diehl & Peterson: Sell globally in various markets to national distributors. In the case of the US market, sell to LDG. For other markets, sells to distributors in those countries.

Laudisi Distribution Group (LDG): Sells to retailers exclusively in the US. Buys from various manufacturers. Does not sell to consumers.

Smokingpipes.com (and Smokingpipes.eu and our retail shops in South Carolina and Ireland): Sells to consumers. Buys from various manufacturers and distributors.

The ins-and-outs of it can occasionally be a bit more complicated in practice, but that's it 99% of the time.

 

[AroEnglish]

Other people covered this pretty well, but here's a tidy way to think about Laudisi's business units:

Cornell & Diehl & Peterson: Sell globally in various markets to national distributors. In the case of the US market, sell to LDG. For other markets, sells to distributors in those countries.

Laudisi Distribution Group (LDG): Sells to retailers exclusively in the US. Buys from various manufacturers. Does not sell to consumers.

Smokingpipes.com (and Smokingpipes.eu and our retail shops in South Carolina and Ireland): Sells to consumers. Buys from various manufacturers and distributors.

The ins-and-outs of it can occasionally be a bit more complicated in practice, but that's it 99% of the time.

Thanks for the lesson, Sykes! I’ll conider this my first course in supply chain managment. The question that came up for me after thinking about your businesses is: why not have one company be the manufacturer, distributor, and retailer. You talking about other markets and working with other distributors makes it clear that it would take a lot for one company to play all those parts in every market.