SIC 3993 Signs and Advertising Specialties

SIC 3993

This category covers establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing electrical, mechanical, cutout, or plate signs and advertising displays, including neon signs and advertising specialties. Sign painting shops doing business on a custom basis are classified in SIC 7389: Business Services, Not Elsewhere Classified. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing electric signal equipment are classified in SIC 3669: Communications Equipment, Not Elsewhere Classified, and those manufacturing commercial lighting fixtures are classified in SIC 3646: Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional Electric Lighting Fixtures.

NAICS CODE(S)

339950

Sign Manufacturing

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

More than 6,259 establishments were engaged in the manufacture of signs and advertising displays in the early 2000s. Industry shipments were valued at $3.9 billion in 2003. The largest portion of sales in this market was attributable to signs. Traditionally, nonelectric signs accounted for most of all specified types of signs, while electric signs made up the next largest category. Advertising specialties accounted for less than 15 percent of the total output.

Throughout its history, and especially in recent years, the industry has fought against perceptions of signs as visual pollutants, which must be controlled or even banned except when conveying "vital information." These perceptions often are countered with new stylistic designs and aggressive government lobbying.

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

A sign shop is an establishment that manufactures signs and advertising specialties. Sign shops are located throughout the country, with the greatest number of establishments located in California (about 580 in 1997). In general, though, the largest amount of shipments and the greatest number of employees are clustered in the Midwest and eastern seaboard states. In 1997, with fewer than half the number of firms in California, Illinois' 224 establishments accounted for almost the same dollar amount in shipments—$631 million (8 percent of the U.S. total). Shipments from California, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin made up 40 percent of the 1997 U.S. total, and 38 percent of the industry's employees worked in those states. A 1992 state-of-the-industry survey reported a significant increase in the percentage of shops doing business in the Midwest, as well as in the nation's central, southern and eastern regions. Furthermore, many sign shops expanded operations to serve a wider geographic base. This expansion was probably the result of a trend toward larger shops, whose greater output quantities and increased sales forces allowed them to serve larger areas.

The largest buyer of signs and advertising specialties was the gross private fixed investment industry. The next largest were highway and street construction, eating and drinking establishments, and wholesale trade.

In 1998, the size of establishments ranged from single-person sign shops to such industry giants as Everbrite Inc. and Signmark, each with sales estimated at more than $110 million. An estimated 75 percent of sales volume in 1992 was generated by less than 10 percent of all sign shops. This top-heaviness may continue due to the increased volume of signs and the prevalence of quantity orders over custom or finely crafted work. The development of computer technology decreases the need for specialized skills and gives rise to rapid-sign franchises, which facilitate same-day construction of signs. According to the 1997 Economic Census, moderately sized sign shops (those with between 20 and 100 employees) accounted for almost 42 percent of total shipments (approximately $3.3 billion).

The 1997 Economic Census showed that the electric and non-electric sign industries continued to experience great expansion and had a combined, all-time high of $7.1 billion in sales in 1997, up from 4.9 billion in 1992. This represented an average increase of nearly 9 percent each year. In the entire industry (including advertising specialties), the average sales per employee totaled $95,526. This...

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