Counselor Top 40 supplier 3M/Promotional Markets (asi/91240) experienced an approximately 2.5% year-over-year decrease in sales in the first quarter of 2025 compared to Q1 2024, according to the company.

“Quote activity and requests were up, but we’re still waiting to see any significant increases that show we’ve truly turned the corner into an upward swing,” Misty Friedrichs, contract national sales manager at the Minnesota-headquartered firm, told ASI Media.

More specifics weren’t available at this time, Friedrichs said, due to how publicly traded parent company 3M addresses the supplier’s financials in its quarterly reports.

Still, 3M/Promotional Markets performed better than the promo industry average in Q1. Research from ASI shows that suppliers’ collective sales declined on average by 4.8% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to Q1 2024. Distributors’ collective sales were down 3.6% during the same comparative period.

Word on 3M/Promotional Markets’ quarterly performance came as parent firm 3M, a publicly traded multinational conglomerate, reported its first-quarter financials. 3M’s sales were down 1% year over year to around $6 billion. Net income was up about 20% to $1.116 billion. Basic earnings per share in Q1 2025 were $2.04, up from $1.67 in Q1 2024.

“We had strong results in the first quarter,” said 3M CEO Bill Brown. “In this dynamic environment, we remain focused on improving the fundamentals in the business.”

After a reported 10.8% increase in annual North American promo sales in 2023, 3M/Promotional Markets’ 2024 industry revenue declined about 1% on a full-year basis in 2024 to about $107.8 million, the firm recently reported to ASI Media.

3M/Promotional Markets ranked 17th on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest suppliers in the North American promotional products industry based on 2023 revenue. The new Counselor Top 40 rankings are due out in July.