This category includes establishments primarily engaged in cleaning carpets and upholstered furniture either at a plant or on customers' premises. Establishments primarily engaged in rug repair are classified in SIC 7699: Repair Shops and Related Services, Not Elsewhere Classified, while those primarily involved in reupholstering and repairing furniture are classified in SIC 7641: Reupholstery and Furniture Repair.
561740 (Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services)
The advent of nailed-down (wall-to-wall) carpets in the 1950s fueled growth in the industry after a period of economic stagnation during World War II. Previously, people rolled up their carpets and took them to the dry cleaners or to other facilities. The shift to in-home services enabled new businesses to establish themselves more easily. Instead of maintaining a commercial location with a public counter for transacting sales, prospective dry cleaners needed only transportation and the necessary equipment and chemicals to get started in business. Consequently, the number of service providers swelled during this time. By the late 1990s, there were an estimated 9,112 estimated carpet and upholstery cleaning establishments in operation in the United States, employing 45,900 workers and earning total revenues of $2.85 billion. These figures reflected the decade's continual upward trend, which, overall, represented an increase of more than 68 percent from 1990, when 5,629 carpet and upholstery cleaning establishments constituted a $1.69 billion industry.
In the late 1990s, the industry was dominated by small businesses, with approximately one-third of the total industry establishments and one-quarter of employees operating under the representation of the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification (IICRC). Most firms in the industry appeared in metropolitan areas, employed an average of five people, and offered cleaning services exclusively, according to Cleaning Management Institute. Increased demand for additional services characterized the carpet cleaning industry in the 1990s, according to professional rug cleaner, Larry Cooper. He was quoted in the industry journal, Cleanfax, stating that "Companies [in the 1990s] … are expected to be experts in many areas in addition to the normal carpet and upholstery cleaning services, including: water damage restoration, fire damage restoration, odor control, carpet installation, and repairs etc…. [reflecting a change from the past when] … carpet cleaning companies cleaned mostly carpet and occasionally upholstery." Very few of the larger companies, however, offered carpet and upholstery cleaning as part of a range of disconnected services in the 1990s, during which time residential cleaning accounted for the majority of revenue. Throughout those years, commercial customers constituted the fastest growing segment of clientele in the carpet and upholstery cleaning industry. Increasingly, schools, stores, restaurants, and offices switched from hard, washable flooring to soft floor coverings that required professional cleaning services. Additionally, concern with "sick building syndrome" fueled increased business on the commercial side.
In 1999, Service Industries USA listed Hagopian and Sons, Incorporated of Oak Park, Michigan as the industry leader in carpet and upholstery cleaning, with estimated revenues of $21 million in 1998. The second largest firm, BMS Enterprises, Incorporated of Fort Worth Texas, earned $7 million.
Darnay, Arsen J. (Ed.). Service Industries USA. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 1999.
"Environment and Health Issue." Cleanfax Magazine, June 1993.
Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Specification Materials. Vancouver, WA: IICRC, 1997.
Lazich, Robert S. Market Share Reporter. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 1999.
Stanley Steemer International. Available from http://www.stanley-steemer.com .
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