Members of the Safety Equipment Distributors Assn. posted mixed results in 2002, with most distributors having a "difficult year" at best, says Steve King, the association's executive director. A good number of them reported better results than they did in 2001, says King, but the average distributor's sales were flat or down.

"We saw continued weakness in the manufacturing sector, which of course is a major customer base for our members," King explains. "As those manufacturers have continued to lay off workers – factory workers in particular – there is less need for personal protective equipment."

King says the trend may continue in the months ahead, based on the number of manufacturers that are still downsizing and moving jobs overseas.

"Just look at the textile industry – we probably won't see those jobs coming back to the U.S.," says King. "And while some would argue that the manufacturing sector is already improving, we haven't really seen it yet."

Smart distributors know this, and they've taken steps to diversify their client bases to include more non-traditional customers, such as the health care industry and the government, both of which have demonstrated a stepped-up need for safety equipment and supplies in the last two years.

Homeland security, for example, is one area in which King says SEDA members are hoping to get a piece of the pie – but most will have to wait until the federal funding is available for fire departments and other entities to actually purchase equipment. Despite press coverage of funds being allocated to such entities, King says, "We haven't seen as much growth in that area as we might have."

Safety distributors also are selling to the road and infrastructure construction industries, both of which are backed up by "a considerable amount of federal funding," says King. Nate Russell, president of San Francisco-based Brenton Safety, says the government has surfaced as a good customer target for his distributorship, which posted flat sales in 2002. Agricultural customers were hardest hit. On the positive side, he says he's "seen a lot of money allocated to domestic preparedness."

Russell says Brenton Safety has tapped that market indirectly by selling fire safety equipment and supplies, and plans to penetrate it more this year.

At Safety Zone LLC, in Centerbrook, Conn., president Sandy Seidman says his firm posted 10 percent sales growth last year, primarily because of "aggressive pricing" on its imported work gloves. Rising product prices are challenging the importer and its distributors now, Seidman says.

"Over the last five or six years, prices have only gone down, and our distributor-customers stocked as little as they could," says Seidman. "With prices on the rise, we're guessing that they'll start to stock more and clean the market out even further, making prices rise even more."

David Rankin, president of Wayest Safety Inc., in Oklahoma City, sums up the selling environment in two words: "darned slow." He says layoffs and plant closures are commonplace, and have left "less people to put earplugs and safety glasses on."

Wayest Safety is finding success working with Oklahoma's oil and gas industries.

"With the uncertainty with Iraq right now, there's more and more activity in that particular sector," says Rankin, who, like other distributors, has set his sights on markets such as fire service and homeland security. "… Our core markets just aren't what they used to be," says Rankin. "We'll continue to service those accounts while looking for other markets for growth."

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