Science and Lab Furniture See Overall Upgrade in School Purchases

As we begin another school year it’s interesting to step back and see what the average school system purchased this summer with regards to furnishings…Whiteboards, School desks and chairs, Science lab furniture, Activity tables, and Book carts.

The summer buying season did indeed get off to a slow start with many schools deferring purchases until the beginning of the new fiscal year, which for many schools is July 1st. We continued to see last minute, “must spend or I will lose the money” purchases in May and June, which definitely helps to get the buying season going on a high note.

Purchases of Science and Laboratory Furniture were slower in June than in past years but July and August definitely made up for it, with many orders of all sizes. We did however notice that there were less full-scale Science lab makeovers, and more purchases of replacement pieces. Which is perfectly fine, because most orders for replacement Science Tables are generally for common quick ship items and do not impact the production floor. Replacement Science table tops were a very common item this summer which schools opting to replace worn out epoxy science table tops rather than the entire table.

Whiteboards are always our biggest selling item, with many schools looking for resurfacing material and what the industry calls “Retro-Fit Whiteboards”, which are basically Framed Whiteboards, without a tray that screw over the existing chalkboard.

Sales for School Desks and Chairs have had noticeable highs and lows. The early portion of the summer saw smaller orders for fill in pieces of ten to twelve items. The middle of the summer saw a drop off of purchases, with the end of the summer seeing a huge push of volume orders. It is my understanding from conversations with school administrators that purchases were made only after a full investigation of what was absolutely needed was completed, with a general emphasis on upgrading Science and Lab Furniture.

I suspect that this will be the pattern for the foreseeable future and hope that schools are able to take advantage of this competitive marketplace to make good long term purchasing decisions.