SIC 7299
MISCELLANEOUS PERSONAL SERVICES, NOT ELSEWHERE CLASSIFIED



This industry covers establishments primarily engaged in providing personal services, not elsewhere classified. Establishments primarily engaged in operating physical fitness facilities, including health fitness spas and reducing salons, are classified in various lodging industries depending on the type of lodging provided; if they do not provide lodging they are classified in SIC 7991: Physical Fitness Facilities.

NAICS Code(s)

624410 (Child Day Care Services)

812191 (Diet and Weight Reducing Centers)

532220 (Formal Wear and Costumes Rental)

812199 (Other Personal Care Services)

812990 (All Other Personal Services)

This industry encompasses a wide array of niche industries that provide personal services in one realm or another. Diverse establishments such as dating services, costume rental shops, massage parlors, scalp treatment services, tuxedo rental, escort services, baby sitting bureaus, and valet parking outfits all are placed in this miscellaneous industry classification.

An estimated 19,037 miscellaneous personal service establishments were in the United States in 1996. In the late 1990s, some of the leading companies in this industry were Philadelphia-based ARAMARK Corp., with $6.7 billion in 1999 sales; Weight Watchers International, headquartered in New York, with estimated sales of $1.5 billion; GE Capital Mortgage, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, with $1.3 billion in sales, and Unifirst Corp., of Wilmington, Massachusetts, with 1999 sales of $487.1 million.

Among the largest business segments of this industry classification are dating services, weight loss centers, and formal wear rental outlets. In 1999, the two most successful weight reducing companies that used the classroom method were Weight Watchers International and Jenny Craig, Inc., with $321 million in sales. In an effort to expand into the non-overweight consumer market, the diet industry is expected to incorporate products and services geared toward total wellness on into the next century.

The miscellaneous personal services industry, including tax return preparation services, which are also discussed in SIC 7291: Tax Return Preparation Services, employed an estimated 149,300 workers in late 1999, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Further Reading

Employment — National, Not Seasonally Adjusted Data. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1999. Available from http://www.bls.org .

Hoover's Company Capsules. Hoover's Online: The Business Network, 1999. Available from http://www.hoovers.com .

Pollack, Judann. "Fed Up With Promoting Diets, Weight-Loss Rivals Branch Out: Marketers Find Wellness, Fitness Tantalizing, Too." Advertising Age , 29 March 1999.

User Contributions:

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: