Ayva Ashby in the kimono teaches kids during an Asian Pacific American Heritage Month program at the Washington County Public Library in Marietta. The library has numerous activities for children aimed at increasing participation in the library when they’re adults. (Photo Provided)

MARIETTA — Do-it-yourselfers will be a more-than-a-billion-dollar-a-year business by 2030, a research group predicts.

The DIY market in the United States was worth $848.1 million in 2021, a number expected to grow to $1.278 billion by 2030, according to Allied Market Research. Growth is over 4% a year.

The largest segments of the DIY retail market is painting followed by tools, hardware and lighting, according to Allied Market Research.

A company meeting the tool and hardware demand for the average DIYer to the needs of those with advanced skills is Harbor Freight, a national tool store.

While it’s difficult to say if more people are doing their own projects, company sales continue to grow, according to Craig Hoffman, a spokesman for Harbor Freight.

Participants make a decorative DIY wall display with buttons in an adult program at the Washington County Public Library. The library has numerous activities for children and adults to unleash their creative spirit while encouraging use of the library. (Photo Provided)

The company offers more than 7,000 tools, adding 600 new ones in the last year, he said. Tool lines are geared toward the abilities and needs of different segments of users, he said.

“We also listen to customer feedback, both in terms of products, and in terms of colors they would like to see added to existing lines of items like storage,” he said.

The company’s first store in the region was in Vienna in the old Foodland on Grand Central Avenue. Its latest opened last fall in Marietta in the Lafayette Center on Pike Street in the former Odyssey 7 movie house.

The major reason for opening the store in Vienna and the Marietta location about 15 miles north was to make it more convenient for customers, Hoffman said. More could open in the region, he said.

“Yes, we’re looking to open other locations in that region, but until something is definite, we don’t announce it,” Hoffman said.

High-tech 3D printers are available in the tech room at Makerspace in Marietta. The organization offers numerous programs, including in the areas of high-tech. (Photo Provided)

Business models changed in the last years since the COVID-19 pandemic. Harbor Freight, like other companies that sold hardware and tools, were deemed to be essential services for health and safety reasons, Hoffman said.

“This was because even with a pandemic, emergency vehicles still need to be repaired, as did health concerns like faulty plumbing,” Hoffman said.

While tools are necessary, skills and knowledge are required, too. Learning can begin at an early age in a child’s craft class or later in adult programs.

People who don’t have the funds or the space to buy tools and equipment or need the know-how can go to Makerspace at 107 Lancaster St., Marietta. Tools and machinery are available along with instructors, Jared Wittekind, Makerspace director, said.

“We’ll teach them how to use the equipment if they don’t know how to,” he said.

Various classes are taught, he said. Information is available on the organization’s website at https://www.bb2careers.org/makerspace.

Sewing, stained glass, laser cutting and engraving and woodworking are among the classes, Wittekind said.

“We do a wide range of creative arts and 3D printing,” Wittekind said.

Sewing classes for juniors and young adults are popular, he said. The popularity of 3D printing has grown as the cost of the equipment has dropped, Wittekind said.

“But woodworking is definitely the most popular class that we have,” he said.

There are several reasons for that and much of it is because of the woodworking equipment and the space required to store it, Wittekind said. Makerspace has the equipment, workshops where it is kept and instructors, he said.

A membership to support Makerspace is $20 a month, a cost comparable to other subscriptions, Wittekind said. The membership can be canceled at any time, he said.

“We try to keep it at about the same price point of other subscriptions people have,” Wittekind said.

Crafts are among the most hands-on of hands-on activities for do-it-yourselfers.

At the Washington County Public Library, the creative spirit is encouraged in young people and adults through numerous activities, many also having to do with books and reading.

Activities are constantly being added, their creation in response to the digital age, Kate Maxon, children’s program coordinator, said. More people are opting to get their books by digital means, which means fewer people going to the library.

Hands-on activities that require a physical presence bring people into the library, she said. All information about activities is available at the library website, which is frequently updated, Maxon said.

“So we had to make a big push for programming,” Maxon said.

It’s been successful, she said. Kids, young and older adults learn things in an enjoyable way, Maxon said. With kids, the hope is they learn something to take with them into adulthood and to keep them coming back to the library, she said.

Among the popular activities for children is making a Harry Potter magic wand, Maxon said. Everything with Harry Potter is popular, she said.

In a Harry Potter collaboration with The Castle, the library has had to schedule three additional escape rooms to meet the demand, Maxon said.

The library also has partnered with the Eighth Street Neighborhood Association where participants make art at the library to be displayed during the association’s Art in the Alley program, Maxon said.

While book clubs continue to grow in popularity, a hands-on button making program also is among the most popular for adults, she said.

“We’ve always seen a lot of interest here with crafting,” Maxon said.

Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com