SHOPA finds home offices, students fuel industry sales - School and Home Office Products Association survey - Brief Article

Discount Store News, Sept 19, 1994 by Teresa Andreoli

DAYTON, OHIO -- In its inaugural research project, the School and Home Office products Association last month described its market as a dynamic $60 billion industry.

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This total reflects 1992 manufacturers' shipments of supplies, furniture, machines, personal computer software and accessories, business forms and greeting cards. Computer hardware and party goods were excluded.

Fueling the growth is the emergence of the home office and an expanding school-age population, SHOPA said.

A study conducted for SHOPA by the Center for Applied Research suggests that 30% of the workforce (40 million people) do at least some work from home. "As computer network capabilities improve, that number should increase significantly," said Charles Bowlus, chairman of SHOPA's research and education committee.

The school-age population is expected to grow from its base of 47 million in 1991 to 54 million by the year 2003.

All of which should be good news for discounters, wholesale clubs and office products superstores.

Superstores are faced with the least amount of threatening competition, the study said. There is plenty of room for expansion, since SHOPA estimates the saturation level at 1,500 to 2,000 superstores, and currently only 900 superstores exist.

The research points out two threats to superstores: direct competition from other superstores, and the challenge of trying to combine with and manage a commercial office products dealer.

The study also examined the future from the manufacturer perspective. The number of supplies makers have shrunk from 1,100 to 850 in the past four years. Manufacturers with outdated technology are destined to suffer, especially as larger chains require them to become techno-efficient.