It's pretty common to see the phrase "wholesale destruction," especially when historians are talking about the overwhelming effects of war or ecological disasters. When wholesale is a verb, it has a very different meaning — to sell things in bulk, usually to someone who is going to sell it again at a higher retail price. The earliest meaning of the word was "in large quantities," combining whole and sale into the phrase "by whole sale."
- See more at: http://www.investordictionary.com/definition/retailer#sthash.ugvk5IHa.dpuf