Shop Towel Market

Shop Towels was a new category for us in 2003 and with new categories we use outside sources in creating data related to Total Aftermarket Sales and Market Share. In this instance, we were unable to obtain any concrete, reliable sales or market share data that we felt comfortable reporting. (See our research here.)However, we did gather some secondary information from INDA, the Association of the Nonwovens Fabrics Industry. Here is what we learned about shop towels from INDA Director of Marketing Research & Statistics Ian Butler:

INDA places the automotive shop towel market for North America at approximately $30 million to $40 million. These represent sales at the manufacturer level to automotive and aerospace users. These numbers are for nonwoven materials only, as the materials compete with reusable, rags and paper products. INDA estimates that roughly 30 million to 35 million square meters of nonwovens are used by this industrial channel.

INDA did not have good numbers on the retail industry as the statistics are captured in several categories ... sometimes wipes and sometimes in the automotive products area.