Description
Miscellaneous nondurable goods wholesale distributors industry include: artists’ materials, textile bags, jewelry, gift products, 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.
