To the extent that wholesalers enter the public consciousness at all, it is as those damned middlemen who are to be squeezed out of the action at every opportunity. As well they should, if at all possible. I like you folks, but my prosperity has a higher priority than yours. If I can get goods delivered to me cheaper, yet just as fast and just as thoroughly without passing through an extra step of distribution, that's the way it should be. There is no moral imperative that says all wholesalers are entitled to earn a living.
Economic efficiency takes precedence over sentiment.
Problem is, more often than not, attempts to cut out you middlemen prove to be shortsighted. It's relatively easy to sell around the wholesaler, but it's impossible to eliminate the functions of a wholesaler. Someone has to distribute goods to a mass marketplace. Someone has to offer credit and collect the money. Someone has to troubleshoot faulty products and process returns.