SIC 5199
MISCELLANEOUS NONDURABLE GOODS

This category covers wholesalers of nondurable goods, not elsewhere classified, such as art goods, industrial yarns, textile bags, and bagging burlap.

NAICS Code(s)

541890 (Other Services Related to Advertising)

422990 (Other Miscellaneous Nondurable Goods Wholesalers)

Just a glance at the miscellaneous nondurable goods industry shows how complex it is to place every U.S. nondurable good into a distinct group. Even if each segment of this scattered industry were given its own classification, the need for new categories would likely emerge within a few months. Items listed in this diverse category include: artists' materials, textile bags, baskets, brooms, burlap, candles, charcoal, Christmas trees, clothes hangers, tropical fish, glassware, animal and vegetable greases, hairbrushes, ice, industrial yarn, cigar and cigarette lighters, matches, paper novelties, smokers' pipes, plant food, crude rubber, sheet music, wigs, wood carvings, woolen and worsted yarns, worms, and many other items.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the industry consisted of 16,168 establishments in 2001, down slightly from 16,458 in 2000. There were a total of 111,175 employees with an annual payroll of approximately $4 million. By 2003, the total number of establishments increased to 48,849, and the employee base reached 233,851. The industry generated more than $40 million in sales. In April of 2004, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that the nondurable goods industry had climbed 4.3 percent since 2003.

The majority of miscellaneous nondurable goods establishments were concentrated in Florida with 4,485, New York with 4,375, and Texas with 4,171 establishments. Combined, these states controlled more than 26 percent of the market as a whole, generating more than a $100 million in sales in 2003. Packaging materials and advertising specialties contribute more than 22 percent of the overall nondurable goods.

In 1997 Dun and Bradstreet listed more than 49,000 establishments in the nondurable goods industry, which reported combined sales of $491 billion, up from $468 billion in the prior year. The industry as a whole reported profits exceeding $107 billion, an increase of more than $8 billion from 1996. The sale of nondurable goods contributed more than 15 percent to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product during the 1990s. As the century came to a close, more promising figures were reported by the industry. New orders in non-durable goods rose 4 percent from August to September 1999. Sales of non-durable goods rose 6 percent in October and 4 percent in November, compared to figures for the same months in 1998.

Approximately 7.6 million workers were employed in the miscellaneous wholesale trade nondurable goods industry during 1998, according to a Washington Post article. In 1997 the average industry worker brought home $504.71 for 41 hours of work each week. Seventeen years earlier, the same worker brought home $255.45 for 39 hours of work each week. A November 1999 survey of approximately 16,000 U.S. companies showed that workers in the nondurable goods industries would be in high demand as the new millennium began. Conducted by Manpower, Inc., the survey also showed that the shortage of skilled workers in the industry might continue until the year 2006.

A leading company in the miscellaneous wholesale trade nondurable goods industry was Golden State Foods Corp. A privately held food-processing company based in Irvine, California, Golden State Foods had about $1.7 million in sales in 2002 and 2,000 employees. The company supplied hamburger patties, buns, tomatoes, lettuce, ketchup, and mayonnaise to 2,500 McDonald's restaurants. By 1999 it was the third-largest processor of beef patties for McDonald's and the second-largest overall supplier of products for the fast-food chain. Golden State Foods is now run by business consultant Yucaipa Companies and investment firm Wetterau Associates, who jointly acquired the food processor in 1998. Yucaipa acts as the controlling shareholder, while Wetterau manages

day-to-day operations. Other industry leaders were Keystone Foods LLC, based in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, with more than $2.6 million in sales in 2002, and The Martin-Brower Company, L.L.C. in Rosemont, Illinois.

Further Reading

Berry, John M. "Wage Gains Falling Despite Low Jobless Rate." The Washington Post, 19 November 1998.

D&B Sales & Marketing Solutions, 2003. Available from http://www.zapdata.com .

Hoover's Company Profiles, 2004. Available from http://www.hoovers.com .

The New York Times Almanac 2000: The Almanac of Record. New York: Penguin Reference Books, 1999.

U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2004. Available from http://www.census.gov .

U.S. Department of Commerce, 2004. Available from http://www.census.gov/svsd/www/mwts.html .

U.S. Department of Labor, 2004. Available from http://www.dol.gov .