SIC 5087 Service Establishment Equipment and Supplies

SIC 5087

This industry is comprised of establishments primarily engaged in the wholesale distribution of equipment and supplies for barber shops, beauty parlors, power laundries, dry cleaning plants, upholsterers, undertakers, and related personal service establishments. Other products of the industry include carnival and amusement park equipment, firefighting equipment, janitors' supplies, and voting machines.

Service establishment equipment and supplies wholesalers specialize in one of four areas: beauty and barber equipment and supplies, custodial equipment and supplies, laundry and dry cleaning equipment and supplies, and other service establishment equipment and supplies.

NAICS CODE(S)

421850

Service Establishment Equipment and Supplies Wholesaler

446120

Cosmetics, Beauty Supplies, and Perfume Stores

In 2006, according to D&B Sales & Marketing Solutions, there were 20,097 establishments with 114,655 employees in this industry, generating more than $19 billion in sales. The industrial machinery and equipment industry was subdivided into four groupings: beauty and barber equipment made up approximately 24 percent of sales; custodial equipment and supplies accounted for about 20 percent of sales; laundry and dry cleaning equipment accounted for about 7 percent of sales. California, Florida, New York, and Texas controlled almost 36 percent of the establishments. Combined, they generated more than $9 billion in sales.

The National Association of Wholesalers (NAW) issued a report in 1992 titled Facing the Forces of Change 2000: The New Realities in Wholesale Distribution. The report, based on the findings of a commissioned study undertaken by Arthur Andersen Company, included equipment and supply distributors among the examples of types of companies encountering competition from innovative market channels. Traditional merchant wholesalers, who represented 93.5 percent of industry establishments in the government's census, were expected to face the stiffest competition. Alternate channels included manufacturer direct sales, retail formats such as buying clubs and warehouse clubs, and inventory service providers such as subcontractors offering product assembly or transportation coordination. Merchant wholesalers were not expected to increase their market share in the overall national economy...