Undoubtedly the fact that almost everyone is now in the PPE distribution business. W.W. Grainger has vastly expanded its safety services, training, checklists, white papers, hotlines, etc. Fastenal, at one time a strictly or almost strictly an industrial fastener company, now markets vending machines of all sizes with all varieties of PPE. Staples, the office supply company, is now making a strategic penetration into the PPE market, including hiring safety sales specialists to advise and assist Staples' legion of field sales reps in making safety sales presentations to customers. Amazon is in the industrial supply business, including PPE. Home Depot is there too, with HD Supply.
At the same time, and due in part to these multi-billion dollar businesses getting into PPE, we've seen the demise of many old-line safety supply houses. Family businesses that started around the birth of OSHA in 1970. 40+ years later the original owners are at, and have been at for some years, the retirement age and have cashed out because the next generation is not interesting in competing against the likes of Grainger, Airgas, Fastenal, MSC, HD Supply, Amazon, and just about every MRO industrial distributor in the U.S.