Signs of the Times magazine has conducted what could be the first-ever neon survey of the electric sign industry. Based on 142 responses from companies ranging in sales volume from $60,000 to $109 million, here are some of the highlights.
- The average electric-sign company sells more than $700,000 in neon products annually, which accounts for nearly 30% of its income.
- For illuminated signs, neon is used 41% of the time, compared to 49% for fluorescent lighting. Exterior neon is used three times more often than interior neon.
- By a wide margin, channel letters are the most common form of neon signage.
- Wholesalers fabricate more than 40% of all neon sold.
- In 1999, the average electric-sign company sold 18% more neon than it did in 1998.
- From 1998 to 1999, neon’s percentage of electric-sign companies’ overall sales volumes grew by more than 16%.
Consider this data as a companion study to the Electric State of the Industry (SOI) report that will be published in July 2000. Note that we have calculated results in the same sales-volume categories used in the Electric SOI.
There is one major difference. The Electric SOI is conducted annually by Smyth Marketing Resources, a professional research company. This neon survey was conducted in-house, much like our studies on vinyl (February 2000), banners (November 1999) and other product/material-specific studies. Despite this distinction, this article will make frequent references to the Electric SOI and calculate comparative extrapolations as well.
To view a full report, purchase the March 2001 issue of Signs of the Times magazine, here.
Preview:
Table 1 suggests smaller companies may rely on a higher percentage of neon sales. Yet the percentages are quite uniform; the range for the six sales-volume categories over $100,000 is only 27%-39%.