The 2003 Edition of the Operating Performance Report (OPR) of the American Supply Association gives ample evidence of the troubles facing PVF distributors. The latest edition shows PVF wholesalers surveyed reporting a median 5.2 percent decline in sales for 2002, the year surveyed. (All numbers cited in this article reflect medians rather than averages, in accordance with the OPR's preference.) That was the first decline in sales reported for the PVF sector since 1991, and only the third annual drop since 1983. The 5.2 percent loss in revenues was the steepest since 1983's reported 6.8 percent drop.
The PVF category is composed of wholesalers that derive over 50 percent of sales from PVF products. A separate category of mixed plumbing/PVF firms describes those that derive more than 50 percent of sales from those two categories combined, but not from either one. The plumbing/PVF combined category reported markedly different sales performance, a 4.2 percent increase in 2002 over 2001, up from 2.3 percent the prior year. This category reported only one year of declining sales over the last 20 years, in 1990. Almost certainly the plumbing sector, especially residential plumbing, buoyed the fortunes of these firms.