2010 Hot Markets: Accepting the ‘New Normal’

Last in the durables sector, at No. 20, is home improvements ($666B, -8 percent; with $4.5B to print, -6 percent). Leaders Home Depot (-8 percent) and Lowe's (-3 percent) are stuck in the basement.

Lagging unrecovered real estate, these segments are not good prospects in the New Year except for those full-web, sheetfed and screen printers already supplying the largest participants. Contractions, as evidenced by the Stanley Works' (-16 percent) acquisition of larger Black & Decker (-23 percent), will consolidate brands and further reduce demand for packaging and promotional print.