Menlo Logistics established itself as a leading third-party logistics (3PL) provider in the 1990s, and rode the popularity of the outsourcing trend by notching double-digit growth every year during that era. One of Menlo’s early success stories was its successful bid on a $100 million distribution contract with Sears. The department store wanted to close its internal distribution system, which cost Sears about twice as much as its competitors at 7 percent of its sales.[4]