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Lots of growth marks this year's list

Judith Davidsen -- Interior Design, 10/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

It was unquestionably a good year. In 2003, the top 50 Interior Design Giants in hospitality earned $176,352,201, 1.67 percent more than in 2002—and an increase almost 50 percent larger than that reported by the top 100 Giants.

Those increases ranged from 6.72 percent all the way up 70 percent, with nine firms experiencing gains of 25 percent or more. Two firms reported exactly the same earnings for the second year in a row. Decreases ranged from 1.24 percent to 53.71 percent, with five firms experiencing decreases of 25 percent or more. An educated guess says there's a good chance that, during the study period, the firms with the largest decreases simply found themselves in the position of having previous work paid off and new projects in the pipeline not earning the bulk of their fees just yet. (Comparisons aren't possible for the six firms that didn't make the list the year before.)

For almost a quarter of the current Giants, hospitality work was the sole source of income. The category accounted for less than 10 percent of earnings for four firms; two of these were in the top third of the rankings. Projects overseas generated earnings for 26 firms, with three of them deriving 100 percent of their income from jobs abroad.

The Giants' projects accounted for 57,508,360 square feet installed, down 2.7 percent from the previous year. The total cost of furnishings, fixtures, and construction was $5,690,128,371, down 1.86 percent. The figures also indicate Giant fees at 3.1 percent of project costs, up 3.33 percent from 2002.

During 2003, 15 Giants began working in areas new to them: three each in hotels and country clubs; two each in casinos, resorts, and time shares; and one each in restaurants and restaurant branding, cruise ships, gourmet fast food, and fitness facilities.

Hotels accounted for 48 percent of Giants income, up 1.2 percentage points. (The previous year's increase was also 1.2 percent—coincidence or the beginning of a trend?) For the first time in several years, the resorts and spas category accounted for a greater portion of earnings (17 percent) than did restaurants (16 percent); five years ago, restaurants accounted for 2.27 times more than resorts and spas did.

As usual, not all 50 Giants engaged in all the possible hospitality project types—and not all report what they're up to. We do know, however, that 29 firms designed 539 restaurants, up from 474. Although resort-spa income beat restaurant income, and resort-spa square footage doubled, the actual number of resorts and spas completed declined by 7 percent. In another switch, casinos led country clubs 8 percent to 7 percent, respectively, for the first time in three years—even though square footage for casinos was halved and country-club square footage increased 45 percent.

For all the intriguing tidbits, the bottom line remains. The 50 hospitality Giants not only grew, but they also grew faster than the top 100 Giants.

Fastest-Growing Firms (by ranking)

Firms With Largest Fee Increase (by value)

Hospitality Giants

New to the Hospitality Listing in 2004 (by value)

Fee Scales

Hospitality Fees and Percent of Work by Category

Firms With Hospitality Work Outside the U.S.
(by percentage)