National Association of Realtors
March 9th, 2008
The slump in the housing industry is knocking the stuffing out of furniture sales, merchants and analysts say.
A recent casualty is Domain, an upscale regional chain that is liquidating all 27 stores, including its showroom at the Promenade at Sagemore in Marlton.
“In the past year or so we’ve lost Levitz, Storehouse and Bombay Co.,” said Jerry Epperson, furniture industry analyst at Mann Armistead & Epperson in Richmond, Va. “It’s a very challenging time for the business.”
In a recent poll of dealers by Furniture World, a New Rochelle, N.Y.-based trade publication, 70 percent of retailers said orders were down. Read more »
Tags: America, Asia, Bombay, Bombay Co., Boston, Broyhill, Europe, European, Furniture, Furniture Brands International, Furniture Brands International Inc., furniture chain, furniture chains, Furniture Industry, Furniture Today, George, Great American Group, Green, Greensboro, home retail, January, Jerry Epperson, Lane, Laurel, Levitz, National Association, National Association of Realtors, new furniture, North Carolina, Northeast, online, PBC, Price, Restoration, Restoration Hardware, retail, retail landscape, Richmond, Rome, St. Louis, Storehouse, Table, The Fashion, Thomasville, Today
April 1st, 2007
When it was time to prepare her Mission District duplex for sale, Sue O’Callaghan gritted her teeth and reluctantly took the advice of those who said she needed to give it a new look.
To enhance the marketability of their building, O’Callaghan said, she and her son were encouraged by their real estate agents to make a number of changes, such as replacing her antique furniture with pieces of a different style. “They said, ‘If you’re going to put (your property) on the market, you’re going to have to make it a lot more marketable by updating certain things,’ ” she said.
O’Callaghan, 68, a retired gift shop owner who now resides in San Diego, didn’t heed their advice without some reservations. “I resisted because I didn’t want my stuff subjected to possible damage — and I think it’s really good-looking furniture. I’ve had my oriental rugs for years and they aren’t cheap. I knew I was being stubborn. I dragged my feet and moaned.” The building sold five days after it was listed. “We got our money,” she said with a chuckle. “I heard plenty of ‘I told you so’s.’ ” Read more »
Tags: America, Antique, Area, Bath, car dealers, car dealership, Color, Design, Furniture, Grant, Maine, Money, National Association, National Association of Realtors, online, paint, potential buyers, Price, real estate, real estate agent, real estate market, San Diego, San Francisco, Set, Small, Table, U.S. Census Bureau, Victoria, Victorian, West, Works
December 14th, 2006
The slowdown in the housing market is reaching well beyond the nation’s homebuilders — in the past few months, several furniture makers and retailers have cut their forecasts.
Earlier this month, St. Louis-based Furniture Brands International Inc. forecast a fourth-quarter loss with sales falling in the mid-single digits. Stanley Furniture Co., which cut about 200 jobs this week at a North Carolina-based faciltiy, and Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. have both cut their guidance, blaming overall soft industry conditions. Read more »
Tags: Ethan Allen, Ethan Allen Interiors, Ethan Allen Interiors Inc., Furniture, Furniture Brands International, Furniture Brands International Inc., Furniture Co., furniture maker, furniture makers, Furniture Store, Margaret Whelan, National Association, National Association of Realtors, North Carolina, Price, retail, St. Louis, Stanley Furniture, Stanley Furniture Co.
November 7th, 2006
Monthly Forecast From BDO Seidman
New Orders. According to our most recent survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors, new orders declined 7 percent in August 2006 compared to August 2005. New orders increased 6 percent over July, a typically slower period for orders. These results were somewhat expected based on our conversations with industry executives due to current business conditions prior to Labor Day.
Year-to-date, new orders are now down 1 percent compared to the first eight months of last year. For the first seven months ended in July, new orders were about even with the same period a year ago. Read more »
Tags: Adjustment, All Urban Consumers, Alliance, Area, Arts, Backlogs, BDO Seidman, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Conference Board Consumer Research Center, David Lereah, energy, energy prices, equipment, federal government, food, food service, food services, Furniture, Furniture Industry, furniture industry services, furniture manufacturer, furniture manufacturers, gas prices, gross domestic product, insurance, items less food, January, Labor Day, less food, Location, Lynn Franco, Maine, Mary, Michigan, Midwest, Money, National Association, National Association of Realtors, Northeast, Opening, Price, products, Reading, Receivables, residential furniture manufacturers, retail, retail sales, retail trade, Retail trade sales, Set, South, St. W, store retailer, the University of Michigan, Today, Transportation equipment, U.S. Census Bureau, unemployment insurance, Urban Consumers, West, World Magazine
September 9th, 2006
Monthly Forecast From BDO Seidman
New Orders. According to our latest survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors, new orders in June were about even with new orders in June of 2005. The orders were also basically even with May orders, which is somewhat normal.
For the month, approximately 58 percent of the participants reported increased orders. This compared to just over one-half the participants reporting increases in May when orders were flat compared to May 2005.
Year-to-date, new orders remained about even with last year’s first half. Approximately 39 percent of the participants reported increased orders for the first half of the year, compared to 32 percent last month.
Shipments and Backlogs. Shipments in June were also even with shipments in June of 2005 and were up 6 percent over May. May’s shipments were up 1 percent over May of 2005.
Year-to-date, shipments remained about even with the first-half of last year. Just over 40 percent of the participants reported increased shipments. Read more »
Tags: Alliance, Area, Arts, Backlogs, bank, BDO Seidman, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Conference Board Consumer Research Center, David Lereah, energy, Energy costs, equipment, federal government, food, food index, food service, food services, food services sales, Furniture, Furniture Industry, furniture industry services, furniture manufacturer, furniture manufacturers, gas prices, Grant, gross domestic product, Hurricane Katrina, Iraq, items less food, January, Laine, less food, Location, Lynn Franco, Maine, Mary, Midwest, Money, National Association, National Association of Realtors, Northeast, petroleum-based energy, Price, products, Receivables, residential furniture manufacturers, retail, retail sales, retail trade, Retail trade sales, Set, Small, South, store retailer, Transportation equipment, U.S. Census Bureau, West, World Magazine
July 13th, 2006
After a rebound year in 2004, with growth at 5.5 percent for residential furniture manufacturers and distributors in our survey, 2005 provided some more growth in shipments—3.3 percent—according to our monthly surveys of these companies. Our annual survey, which has some difference in the make up of participants, indicated a growth rate of 3.0 percent, so the results were very similar. New orders in the monthly survey were up 2 percent.
The upholstery group led the way in the annual survey with shipments increasing 4.4 percent, while the case goods group was up only 0.5 percent. The smaller group in the miscellaneous category increased almost 7.0 percent.
As with 2004, the first half of the year was better than the second half, with overall shipments up slightly over 5 percent. That growth rate fell to 2.8 percent in the third quarter and was only 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter. Read more »
Tags: All Urban Consumers, Alliance, Arts, Barrel, BDO Seidman, Broyhill, Bureau of Labor Statistics, cell phones, Conference Board Consumer Research Center, cut-and-sewn products, energy, Federal Reserve System, Furniture, Furniture Industry, furniture industry services, furniture manufacturer, furniture manufacturers, gas prices, Goes, higher gas prices, imported product, increased imported products, Internet, internet connections, Laine, Lane, Lexington, Location, Lynn Franco, Mary, Memorial Day, Money, National Association, National Association of Realtors, North Carolina, oil price, oil prices, Paris, Price, products, Project, Receivables, residential furniture manufacturers, retail, retail level, RTG, satellite radio, satellite radios, Set, Small, Table, Thomasville, United States, Upholstery Group, Urban Consumers, West, World Magazine
June 17th, 2006
An increasingly fragmented and competitive furniture market is about to claim two more family-run companies.
Bay Furniture Co., a six-store chain based in Homewood that opened its first store in 1940 in South Chicago, began a liquidation sale last week. Thursday, Zierk’s Home Furnishings, a 27-year-old company that at one time had five area stores, started a going-out-of-business sale at its last store in Naperville. It hopes to be closed by August.
The loss follows the shutdown last year of John M. Smyth’s Homemakers after 140 years.
Small chains elsewhere around the country are closing, too.
Like most segments of retailing, a furniture merchant’s fortunes can rise and fall as a result of economic headwinds and competition. These days, neither one is cutting furniture sellers a break.
Sixteen consecutive interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve have dampened the housing market, and the National Association of Realtors is predicting no uptick in home sales until the fourth quarter. When people don’t move, they have less reason to shop for sofas, dining room tables and bedroom sets.
Last year, retail sales in furniture stores totaled approximately $58.9 billion, a 4.1 percent increase over the prior year’s period. In 2004, sales rose 8.7 percent, according to the Census Bureau. Read more »
Tags: advertising program, America, Area, Art Raymond, Barrel, Bassett, Bassett Furniture, Bassett Furniture Industries, Bassett Furniture Industries Inc., Bay Furniture Co., BDO Seidman, BDO Seidman LLP, Bureau of the Census, Chicago, Costco, Crate, CT store, Dan Plunkett, Elston Avenue, Federal Reserve System, Furniture, Furniture Co., Furniture Industry, furniture industry services, furniture seller, Furniture Store, HIGH POINT, Hoffman Estates, Homewood, Howard Samuels, January, John Disa, John M. Smyth, Ken Smith, Lake Zurich, Los Angeles, middle-market chain, Minneapolis, Naperville, National Association, National Association of Realtors, North Carolina, Northbrook, online, Opening, Oregon, Plunkett Home Furnishings, Portland, Pottery Barn, Price, products, Raleigh, Rally Capital Services, Restoration, Restoration Hardware, retail, retail sales, retail-driven, Set, Small, South, Table, Target, Target store, Target Stores Corp, THB, Thomasville, Today, Tribune, United States, West, Wheeling, Wickes Furniture Co., Z Gallerie, Zierk's Home Furnishings, Zurich
May 31st, 2006
New Orders
New orders in March 2006 rose 3 percent over March 2005 levels according to our most recent survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors. New orders were 8 percent higher than February levels. March order rates historically are higher than February.
Just less than one-half (48 percent) of the participants reported increased order rates in March compared to 53 percent in February and 58 percent in January. There were several though that reported a very small decline in March.
Year-to-date, new orders were 5 percent higher than the first quarter of last year; down slightly from the 6 percent increase after February’s report. Some 51 percent of the participants reported increases in new orders for the first quarter, down slightly from 57 percent in February. Read more »
Tags: Adjustment, All Urban Consumers, Alliance, Arts, Backlogs, bank, BDO Seidman, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, cell phones, Conference Board Consumer Research Center, David Lereah, energy, Energy costs, equipment, federal government, Federal Reserve System, food, Food prices, food service, food services, food services sales, Furniture, Furniture Industry, furniture industry services, furniture manufacturer, furniture manufacturers, gross domestic product, Internet, January, less food, Location, Lynn Franco, Maine, Mary, National Association, National Association of Realtors, Paris, petroleum-based energy, Price, products, Receivables, residential furniture manufacturers, retail, retail sales, retail trade, Retail trade sales, satellite radio, Small, store retailer, Table, U.S. Census Bureau, United States, Urban Consumers, West, World Magazine
April 30th, 2006
According to our latest survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors, new orders in February 2006 increased 7 percent over new orders in February 2005. New orders were 6 percent higher than January order rates. The results were somewhat surprising (on the good side) based on recent conversations with people in the industry.
The results again were very mixed among participants. Some 53 percent of the participants reported increases in the February-to-February comparisons similar to the 58 percent in January and clearly better than the 35 percent showing increases in December. Once again, the disparity among participants was wide, with a good number of participants reporting strong double-digit increases, while others continue to report double-digit declines.
Year-to-date, new orders were up 6 percent for the two months ended February 2006. Some 57 percent of the participants reported increased orders. Read more »
Tags: Adjustment, All Urban Consumers, Alliance, America, Arts, Backlogs, BDO Seidman, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Conference Board Consumer Research Center, David Lereah, energy, Energy costs, equipment, food, food service, food services, food services sales, Furniture, Furniture Industry, furniture industry services, furniture manufacturer, furniture manufacturers, Garden, garden equipment, gas prices, gas pumps, HIGH POINT, imported product, insurance, items less food, January, less food, Location, Lynn Franco, Mary, Midwest, Money, National Association, National Association of Realtors, Northeast, Paris, Price, products, Receivables, residential furniture manufacturers, retail, retail environment, retail sales, retail sales reports, retail trade, Retail trade sales, Small, soft retail environment, South, store retailer, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, unemployment insurance, United States, Urban Consumers, West, World Magazine
March 3rd, 2006
Monthly Forecaster
This is the final report for the year 2005. The year was a good one for a number of our participants. It was also a struggle for many of the participants who lost market share in some pretty big ways. Also, a number of the participants are still trying to determine the balance between domestic production and imports, a difficult task for sure.
New Orders. According to our recent survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors, new orders in December fell slightly in December 2005─just over half of one percent. With the exception of September, each month since July has shown plus or minus 1 percent, or basically flat growth.
December orders were 11 percent lower than November, but that is somewhat normal for December. Last year, orders were 12 percent lower in December compared to November. Read more »
Tags: Adjustment, All Urban Consumers, Alliance, Arts, Backlogs, BDO Seidman, BDO Seidman LLP, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Conference Board Consumer Research Center, consulting services, David Lereah, energy, Energy costs, equipment, food, food index, food service, food services, food services sales, Furniture, Furniture Industry, furniture industry services, furniture manufacturer, furniture manufacturers, Garden, garden equipment, gas prices, healthcare, Hurricane Katrina, imported product, items less food, January, less food, Location, Lynn Franco, Mary, Midwest, mining, Mobile, Money, National Association, National Association of Realtors, Northeast, Price, Prices
Interest Rates, products, professional services, Receivables, residential furniture manufacturers, retail, retail sales, retail trade, Retail trade sales, South, the Star, Transportation equipment, U.S. Census Bureau, United States, Urban Consumers, West
