Manufacturers’ sales branches and offices
- Are owned and operated by manufacturers but are physically separated from manufacturing plants. They are used primarily for the purpose of distributing the manufacturer’s own products at wholesale.
- Some have warehousing facilities where inventories are maintained. Some also wholesale allied and supplementary products purchased from other manufacturers.
Manufacturers' sales branches are company-owned business operations located away from the corporate headquarters or its manufacturing units. The Tandy Corporation, for example, operated Radio Shack outlets for its computers and other products around the world. IBM had similar establishments. Such outlets display products and arrange for financing and service. Their role as middlemen is obscured by the fact that they deal directly with final consumers.