Sales for the FDM 300 reached $43.325 billion in 2014, by our estimate. That's an increase of 9.3 percent over the 2013 mark. Sales increased for companies in most market sectors. Sales of cabinet companies showed particularly strong growth.

A year ago, we calculated annual sales for this group of 300 companies to be $39.630 billion for the year 2013, an increase of 5.3 percent over sales estimated for the year 2012.

This is the third straight year of sales growth. Sales increases in 2012 and 2013 came after five consecutive years of declines from 2007 to 2011.

In 2013, cabinet companies also led the sales gains. Many medium-sized cabinet companies recorded have recorded solid sales gains both in 2013 and 2014. Changes and consolidations in some larger companies resulted in sales declines in those companies.

We are working on our full report that will appear online and in the February issue of FDMC, which will include more information on sales, a detailed look at the 25 largest companies, and a full listing of all 300 companies.