Furniture Today asked executives what their companies are doing to address uncertainties such as availability of capital, changing legislation, sluggish customer demand and more.

David Koehler, president AICO
In these times of uncertainty, we are seeing a palpable positivity in the marketplace. We have had an uptick in demand as our order intake has accelerated nicely over the past six weeks, and we expect solid revenue growth in 2025.
Despite the challenging environment in the home space over the past couple of years, a key initiative we have remained focused on is continuing to develop a wide range of new innovative products to ensure we position ourselves and our customers to be ready to capitalize.

Rusty Morris, vice president of sales, American Woodcrafters
A big focus is on being a multi-faceted partner for retailers. We want to provide more than just master bedroom. That would give us more strength and safety overall.
We made a strong play into dining over the past few years, and now with the youth introductions, we’re trying to offer more options. I wouldn’t be surprised if we added more youth and dining.

Larry Smith, president/CEO, Barcalounger
Our primary initiatives will remain strategic for we must continue to be focused on positioning for a desired future not just a desired present. We work with and communicate weekly with our off-shore teams and partners insuring our supply chain is healthy, prepared and responsive to any changing conditions. We are in a strong working capital position as we continue preparations for the western distribution center, return to the Vegas Market and our April 2025 High Point Showroom expansion.
Trends and/or shifts in consumer demand are reviewed regularly by product division among our 16 categories, by distribution channel, organic growth and new account expansion, targeted demographic/consumer audiences and important dialogue with retail partners on support incentives to help them drive sales.
Navigating the dynamics of uncontrollable conditions like changing legislation or laws for legal product content, large swings in ocean costs, new tariffs or port strikes require key tactical moves to keep us moving toward the fulfillment of key strategic goals. What we do and how we respond will depend on the level of shift.

Stuart Carlitz, executive chairman, Bedding Industries of America
President Trump is threatening tariffs; that’s just his way. At the same time, he is trying to rebuild manufacturing in this country. I don’t see him putting big tariffs on raw materials that would hinder manufacturing in the U.S.
Are we preparing in the event that that could happen? Yes. We have contacted certain suppliers, and due to our large volume being concentrated in three factories and making it more efficient for our suppliers, we’ve been able to get favorable pricing. We have encouraged some of our suppliers to set up manufacturing in the U.S. We’ve been working on that even before Trump was elected because we saw the pricing dynamic of freight being prohibitive.
We are also hoping the government’s interest rate cuts will start to boost housing. It may take until 2026, but the mortgage rates will decline and help bring out business opportunities for the industry.

Micah Swick, president, Bernards Furniture
We feel very positive about the future and are continuing to invest in the business. It isn’t possible to accurately predict what the future holds, but we intend to put ourselves in the best possible position to navigate challenges and seize any opportunities through preparedness and execution.
In 2025 we will continue to build our team by adding new key contributors and developing existing team members. We are adding technology to our warehouse operations, expanding our dealer and sales support efforts, enhancing our marketing program, leaning heavier into AI and much more.

Brian Lange, president, Best Home Furnishings
At Best Home Furnishings, we’re staying committed to our core values. At a time of so much uncertainty, it actually plays into the strength of our strategic initiatives.
As a leader in custom orders and fast delivery, retailers are reluctant to carry too much inventory. Whether that’s due to waning customer demand, high container prices or the risk of tariffs, dealers can stay lean while satisfying customer orders by relying on us to take on the inventory costs.
We’re also seeing the return of choice from customers. During the COVID years, many people purchased products based on availability rather than preference. They needed something for their homes, even if it wasn’t their first choice.
Now, some of those customers are ready for a change, as they never truly liked those items. Our vast selection of upholstery options has been a key driver of our special-order business, giving customers the variety they want.

Mindy Leitwein, national accounts manager, Coaster Fine Furniture
Coaster has been sharpening our tools and leaning into our strengths as a company throughout the past year, from our supplier relationships to our broad distribution network, to our focus on developing on-trend products that are a step beyond the ‘me too’ offerings proliferating the marketplace. Our focus on these areas is enabling the Coaster team to look ahead to 2025 with positivity.
We are listening carefully to consumers’ increasing demand for more value for their hard-earned money. And we are providing that value in a variety of ways, including using pocket coil construction in our upholstered seating for durability that is not typical at our price points.
On the case goods side, we offer deep dove-tailed drawers, even in our opening price point melamine groups, coupled with looks that run thousands of dollars at the lifestyle stores, and we are doing it for a fraction of the cost.
As far as tariffs are concerned, we have always sourced from across multiple countries, and we continue to do so. That means we are well-prepared for any trade situation that may arise, and we have contingency plans in place to handle possible shipping disruptions.
Beyond this, we offer our dealers tremendous support across the board, from digital assets to customer-facing apps and drop ship logistics designed to build their businesses. At the end of the day, we expect the strength of our management, our valued employees and our relationships will make a huge difference in our ability to thrive in 2025.

Mark Nelson, president, Crescent Mattress
The uncertainty of 2025 has allowed us to secure partnerships with raw materials suppliers, and together, we have developed plans to help mitigate costs from further tariffs. We feel confident that we will be able to continue to offer great values to our customers.
Customer demand is the biggest variable we see in 2025. Certainly, additional interest rate cuts and hopefully lowering the cost of basic needs like groceries will do two things for our industry. First, it will give consumers more discretionary income to spend on wants, not just needs. Second, once consumers see an improving economy (even though it may not have reached them yet), a brighter outlook for their future spurs spending.
We believe there is pent-up demand for home furnishings purchases, and we think that personal economic conditions stifled non-essential spending this past year. We expect to see that demand grow in 2025.
Looking ahead to 2025, we see AUSP’s rising as the economy grows and lowered interest rates allow consumers greater spend on higher priced products. Our growth strategy in 2025 is offering our customers ways to grow their market share by offering well-built, well-tailored and aggressively priced products to their customers.

Chealen Martin, president, DreamFit
We see 2025 not as a challenge but as an opportunity to redefine the expectations of our industry. Our strategy for 2025 includes introducing a lineup of game-changing products designed to elevate sales and increase customer engagement.
By integrating advanced technologies into our offerings, we’re giving retailers unique tools to drive more door swings and build bigger tickets at the register. This is not just about product; it’s about creating solutions that stand out in a marketplace that has seen little true innovation.
We’ve positioned ourselves to weather industry uncertainty with confidence. With domestic manufacturing in Alabama and a global manufacturing network, we’ve built a flexible, resilient supply chain that enables us to minimize disruptions and maintain our commitment to delivering unmatched quality at every price point.

Joe Bright, owner, Dunk & Bright, Syracuse, N.Y.
Never stop advertising. With so many bankruptcies, there is an opportunity to gain market share if you continue to advertise.

Jon Stowe, managing director, E.S. Kluft & Co.
We remain steadfast in our commitment to offer the luxury products and price points that have been the hallmark of the E.S. Kluft brands. Guided by our strategic vision, we are focused on delivering high-quality, competitive and profitable products that meet the ongoing demand for premium mattresses.
Beyond these core commitments, we are taking additional steps to ensure success in 2025, including strengthening our retail partnerships, expanding market presence, and building robust vendor relationships and proactive sourcing.
Additionally, under the ownership of Flex Bedding Group, we benefit from strong financial backing and ongoing support for capital investment and expansion.
With these strategies in place, we are confident in our ability to navigate the challenges of 2025. We are well-positioned to expand, outperforming industry expectations in the year ahead.

David Crimmins, vice president, sales and product, Flexsteel
We have performed well in recent uncertain times, and we attribute this to our commitment to understand the consumer and constant pursuit of product innovation. We continue to invest in our company and culture and are committed to our long term plans. We have ongoing strategic planning sessions to discuss risks and implement action plans.
While we have begun taking actions on emerging risks such as new tariffs, our primary focus continues to be on enhancing our understanding of the end consumer, developing innovative new products to meet these insights and supporting our retail partners with exceptional digital and physical point of sale and strong service levels.
Troy Eichmann, chief operating officer, Furniture Mart USA, Sioux Falls, S.D.
We maintain a dynamic approach to strategic planning, continually assessing our strategies in light of evolving customer behaviors and market trends.
Fostering strong relationships with our vendor partners, customers, and associates is paramount. Through open and regular communication, we gain invaluable insights that inform our decision-making and enable us to adapt to changing circumstances.
We diligently monitor legislative developments and capital market conditions to identify potential opportunities and mitigate risks. By implementing a combination of short-term and long-term strategies, we aim to optimize our business performance.
As we look ahead to 2025, we are optimistic about the economic climate and are committed to providing exceptional customer service. We will continue to meet our customers’ needs by offering innovative products and services that deliver value and convenience.
Marcus Bontrager, president, Fusion Designs
COVID was able to teach us some valuable lessons that we can now look back on to help identify bottlenecks and pain points and to realize how quickly the economy can swing one way or the other. We are currently keeping our lead times as low as possible and working on a lot of systems technology that will help us provide a better and more responsive service to our dealers once orders do pick up.
We’ve also been very aggressive in introducing new products and styles, as we want to be sure we have what the end consumer is looking for once the economy starts to swing back.

Gat Caperton, president, Gat Creek
We’ve done a good bit strategy work over the past few weeks.
It is a question of resiliency. We’re a small, family-owned business and do not have the resources to hedge against unknown but expected changes in 2025. The best we can do is to become a faster, more nimble organization.
We are a Lean manufacturer, which gets us a long way. We’ve also added 40,000 square feet to the factory, which will allow us to double our production capacity. We only source a few things that rely on Chinese supply chains, like decorative hardware and PPE. We keep a six-month minimum supply of these items and continue to work to find domestic sources.

Bob Naboicheck, CEO, Gold Bond
Gold Bond has stayed in our lanes — quality, service and value to independent dealers, personalized training and service from myself and my son, and nurturing long-term relationships — with customers and suppliers.
As a result, we are somewhat insulated from the vagaries of the marketplace. Our dealers are generally doing as well or better in their markets, year-over-year, our hospitality and contracts businesses are up, and a shrinking competitive landscape in futons has created new opportunities for us.
Of course, if the economy turns sideways or if outside tariffs do get implemented, the entire industry will feel it because most of the wood for foundations today comes from Canada. But everything else comes from domestic suppliers, and that is intentional. Our loyalty with American suppliers has enabled us to get the products and service we need from them in a timely manner, and all of that is a positive for our dealers.
We are forecasting growth for 2025. All our business segments are seeing increases in sales, and we will support our growing dealer based with new product, training and other support.

Jeremy Hoff, CEO, Hooker Furnishings
During uncertain times, we’re all about staying flexible and resilient. We’ve developed what we believe are smart strategies to tackle challenges like tariffs, supply chain issues and changing demand — taking lessons from past experiences relative to economic ups and downs.
On top of that, our proactive approach to product development keeps us ready to jump on opportunities, whether it’s a housing market rebound or shifts in consumer buying cycles. By staying in tune with our customers’ needs and focusing on growing our market share, we’re confident we can keep moving forward, no matter what comes our way.

David Binke, CEO, King Koil
We have been very dedicated to helping our retailers boost their business in 2024, and we will continue that strategy into the coming year. While there is a fair amount of uncertainty in the marketplace due to the incoming administration in Washington and what may or may not happen in terms of legislation, interest rates and supply chain challenges, we are doing our utmost to get ahead of those issues by better strategic planning, sourcing and new product.
We have been filling in slots at various price points to help our retailers and will continue to create and deploy new product into the market where it makes sense. Our goal is to be there to service our dealers by providing them with innovative product, support, training and marketing to help them maximize every sale.
With fewer customers coming in the door, our products must appeal to as many of those consumers as possible for our retailers to make the sale and net a higher AUSP by selling a more luxurious, feature-rich mattress.

Frank Hood, president and CEO, Kingsdown
We are heading into the new year supported by a successful product strategy based on substantive innovation that is working very well and helping us to open more retail doors. This product strategy will continue in the coming year with elegant and refined new looks on the outside, and a unique Wave Coil system in our Passions and Vintage collections on the inside.
With our product strategy resonating well, we are also proactively managing the potential effects of new tariffs, just as we did during previous tariff increases. We’ve already engaged with all affected tier-one suppliers and initiated alternative sourcing strategies, diversifying our supply origins and strengthening inventory management to mitigate as much risk as possible. While we anticipate minimal impact from these tariffs, our commitment to preparedness remains steadfast.
Looking ahead to 2025, we see reason for optimism. Recent Black Friday results suggest improving consumer sentiment and a gradual economic recovery. For the industry to fully capitalize on these tailwinds, we need a global trade policy that genuinely benefits U.S. consumers without driving inflation higher. It is critical to protect the advantages provided by the USMCA agreement with Canada and Mexico, and as we saw on Dec. 18, continued easing of interest rates by the FOMC is essential. With these factors aligning, we are confident that 2025 will be a great year for Kingsdown.

Tim Harris, owner, Knoxville Wholesale Furniture, Knoxville, Tenn.
We are doubling down on our incredible culture. Advertising and buying practices are pretty much the same, so the little things that help us win are training and motivating our sales force, beautiful displays in our stores, immaculate housekeeping, especially in common areas like the restrooms.
We emphasize mattress sales, rugs, accessories, outdoor furniture and customer care — our version of an extended warranty — all year and hold our salespeople accountable.

Michael Hsieh, CEO, Lifestyle Enterprise
We are continuing to focus on value creation. We’ve been diversifying our sourcing strategies and optimizing our supply chain to account for any possible disruptions.
We want to reduce any negative effects for our customers and remain flexible to any changes so that production and shipments remain efficient and stable. This should put us in the best position to take advantage of the opportunities that 2025 will provide.

Marco Magni, president, Magniflex
Our leadership team is closely monitoring the evolving economic landscape, with a careful eye on how the Federal Reserve might move on interest rates next year. The housing market impacts us greatly, and the potential for sustained high interest rates is still a significant concern.
To counter any impact from these uncertainties, Magniflex will focus on three pillars of business in the new year: diversification, the strengthening of our partnerships and operational efficiency.
We have always prided ourselves on having a diverse product selection. However, with the uncertainty in the industry right now, we plan to expand our product offerings with new accessories and adjustable bases, to help our dealers sell an entire sleep system, not only a mattress. With fewer customers coming into their stores, the more they can add to the ticket with accessories makes each sale more meaningful for the dealer. We have also been able to pass along some operational efficiencies to our dealers. Because we are now manufacturing in the U.S., we were able to increase their margins, and we can now drop ship to anywhere in the country quickly and have the retailer avoid holding expensive inventory in their warehouse.

Gabriele Natale, president, Manwah
Our business is back. We are back growing and expanding. We have a 1.3-million-square-foot expansion of the Vietnam facilities under construction that will be ready by May 2025, which will give us plenty of capacity going forward.
Our organization is designed for agility — both structurally and culturally — which enables quick decision-making processes during crises. This adaptability allows us to pivot operations swiftly in response to emerging challenges, whether they be related to tariffs or unforeseen logistical constraints.

Gil Martin, founder and CEO, Martin Furniture
2024 was a transformative year for us. We closed our Mexico factory and moved all of the production to Vietnam. That took longer than expected but it’s finished and running well now.
We’ve been fortunate with steady lead times. It appears that factories have been slow the second half of 2024, allowing us lead times of 60 days for consistent shipping.
Our Vietnam team has been continually growing and improving under the management of Gustavo Velez. This should help our strong factory relationships.
The demand for product has been steady and fairly strong. Aligning with key retailers has shown us that they are very good at what they do. We’ve been able to help them and us grow our business by increasing our finished goods to accommodate spikes in demand.
Our Vietnam warehouse where we stock about 95% of the finished goods we offer gives our retailers a much better landed cost without a MOQ.
The Federal Reserve lowered their rates three times in 2024 and are predicted to have two additional rate cuts in 2025. This should trickle down to borrowers, large and small. This should spur growth in our industry.

Oscar Miskelly, CEO, Miskelly Furniture, Pearl, Miss.
At Miskelly Furniture, we are focused on enhancing operational efficiency and customer experience to navigate uncertain times.
We continue refining our supply chain processes by collaborating closely with our vendor partners to ensure product availability and timely deliveries. This includes diversifying sources and leveraging data to predict and adapt to market changes like potential tariffs or container rate fluctuations. Partnering with logistic companies such as Gnosis to get real time data on container availabilities can enhance cross docking opportunities and customer communications on delivery date.
Also, we’re doubling down on personalized customer experiences. By leveraging HubSpot as a customer data platform, we streamline communication, track customer interactions and deliver tailored follow-ups. This ensures we address customer needs efficiently and foster long-term loyalty. It is also providing us much better attribution in terms of what ad spends are most effective.
While capital availability and rate uncertainty can fluctuate, maintaining a healthy cash flow through careful inventory management and strategic budgeting remains a top priority. Our strong financial foundation provides not only operational stability, but also confidence among our team members that we have the resilience to navigate economic downtimes and continue investing in their future.
Through these combined efforts, Miskelly is staying nimble, proactive, and dedicated to delivering exceptional value to our customers.

Kyle Robertson, chief operating officer, Mlily USA
Mlily USA plans to further enhance its domestic presence by increasing mattress production and introducing new pillow manufacturing capabilities at our U.S. factories in 2025. Concurrently, we are investing in key departments within the U.S. to strengthen customer service, streamline operations and improve overall efficiency.
This dual focus on both domestic production and U.S.-based support will better position us to mitigate potential disruptions caused by tariff changes, legislative shifts or supply chain challenges, ensuring consistent service and product delivery for our customers.

Arin Schultz, vice president of sales and marketing, Naturepedic
At Naturepedic, we’re staying focused on what we do best: creating safer, organic products that families trust. Going into 2025, we’re strengthening partnerships with sustainable suppliers to ensure a steady flow of certified organic materials, helping us stay ahead of supply chain challenges while maintaining our high standards.
We’re also excited about the growing interest in home furnishing products that support healthier living. Families are prioritizing these choices, and we’re introducing new collections to meet their needs while staying true to our mission of protecting people and the planet.
As we navigate the uncertainties ahead, we’re committed to delivering the products and values that families count on.

Tim Newlin, president/CEO, Norwalk
The key thing for Norwalk Furniture during uncertain times is planning and execution. Consumer demand has been fluctuating up and down in bigger swings over the past three to five years.
Having tighter controls on supply chain, production, expense, and logistics is the key to success. While doing so, you must never take your eye off the consumer. Newness always wins in this business, and having on trend fabrics, leathers and styles will keep you in the game no matter the economic environment.
None of us really knows what 2025 holds, but we know at Norwalk we will be nimble, creative and aggressive to serve our customers and the consumer.

Jason Phillips, CEO, Phillips Collection
In uncertain times, adaptability and proactive planning are crucial, and at Phillips Collection, we’ve made these principles central to our strategy.
Supply chain challenges, for instance, have driven us to build stronger relationships with our suppliers and diversify sourcing to mitigate potential disruptions. By collaborating closely with our partners and leveraging technology to monitor supply chain dynamics, we’ve improved our ability to anticipate and address challenges before they impact our customers. This resilience ensures our ability to deliver on our promise of high-quality, innovative furniture, even in a volatile global landscape.
We are also prioritizing customer-centric strategies to navigate shifting demands and economic conditions. By staying attuned to our clients’ needs, whether in retail, hospitality or residential sectors, we can adapt our offerings to align with evolving market preferences.
For example, expanding into whole-home furniture allows us to provide more comprehensive solutions that resonate with today’s buyers. This agility is supported by data-driven insights, ensuring we remain competitive while continuing to innovate.
Internally, we’ve focused on operational excellence and financial discipline. This includes optimizing inventory management, investing in automation and fostering an inclusive, engaged team that can adapt to change with confidence. In addition, we’ve strengthened our commitment to sustainability, which not only aligns with our values but also meets the increasing demand for environmentally conscious products.
By addressing uncertainty with a balanced approach — fortifying our operations while staying nimble and customer-focused — we’ve positioned Phillips Collection to thrive regardless of external challenges.

Laurie Tokarz, president, Restonic
Restonic’s focus going into 2025 is staying ahead of changing consumer demands and keeping our supply chain rock solid.
Sleep trends are always evolving, and so are we. We’re constantly listening to what our customers want, whether it’s innovative materials, enhanced comforts, or more eco-friendly options. This helps us design mattresses that not only meet expectations but exceed them.
We’ve also been working behind the scenes to make sure our supply chain stays strong and flexible. By building closer relationships with our suppliers, diversifying sourcing and using smarter forecasting tools, we’re reducing the risk of delays and disruptions.
These steps help us get the materials we need on time and keep production running smoothly so we can deliver on our promises to retailers without missing a beat.

Alex Shuford III, CEO, RHF Companies
(Century Furniture, Hancock & Moore, Hickory Chair, Highland House, Jessica Charles, Cabot Wrenn, Pearson, Maitland Smith)
Uncertain times can come in many different disguises. We actually believe that much has become ‘more certain’ and so easier to deal with for both our customers and ourselves. Regardless of what anyone wanted to happen in the fall of 2024, the result is more certainty about 2025 and beyond. With this, we believe there will be a general lift in business, and we are investing in advance of it.
Also, we think it is more certain that there will be trade battles over the coming 24 months, and those will shift the cost environment for the industry benefiting shorter supply chains and onshore producers.
In short, we think it is a time to invest in our facilities, our customer service and our marketing.

Bill Hammer, president, Shifman Mattresses
At our company, we address uncertainty by focusing on what we can control and optimizing our strengths. This means investing strategically in our people, refining our processes and driving innovation in product development.
Instead of being overly reactive to external factors such as supply chain challenges, tariffs or shifting legislation, we channel our energy into areas where we can make a direct impact. By concentrating on continuous improvement in these core areas, we not only mitigate risk but also position ourselves to excel in the face of unpredictability.
This proactive approach allows us to build resilience, maintain a competitive edge, and deliver consistent value to our customers, regardless of external challenges.

Nick Bates, president and CEO, Spring Air International
The past year has been a slugfest for everyone, but we believe 2025 will be a strong year, and we’re gearing up to ensure that our retailers are armed with the best values for their customers. Across the board, our focus is on providing our retailers with higher margins on Spring Air products.
We are also looking forward to expanding our digital marketing reach in 2025, and our goal is to be driving door swings for our customers by way of SpringAir.com. We have national rollouts planned with high-profile retailers, and those additional door counts will represent significant business for our licensees.
Others may be concerned about potential tariffs, and it’s unfortunate, but we actually see tariffs as a good thing because it limits the amount of very inexpensive mattresses brought in from China that are being sold on online marketplaces. That low-end product hurts everybody, so the potential is there to raise the tide for all boats, and we will all be able to sell better beds.
At the same time, we don’t import many items at Spring Air, so tariffs will have little to no effect on our pricing models or on our stream of raw materials.

Ian Geltner, vice president of sales, Steve Silver Furniture
We want to get more real estate from existing customers. That means selling better and developing better product.
Bedroom is a big growth category for us. We’re not super strong in it currently but we could be. We just have to build better product. We’re on a lot of retail floors currently selling other categories, so it makes sense for us to focus on it.

Ed Teplitz, president, Theodore Alexander
We are optimistic about 2025 and expect to experience growth as election uncertainty clears, interest rates decrease and housing turnover improves.
To better serve our customers, we’ve maintained a steady introduction of new products, increased our North Carolina inventory, fully integrated our warehousing and U.S. corporate team into our new Trinity, N.C., headquarters, and purchased a more conveniently located High Point showroom that is currently undergoing renovations and will open for April High Point Market.
We are monitoring potential tariff changes for Vietnam and are focused on the steps we can control to drive our success.

Gerry Borreggine, president and CEO, Therapedic International
While the New Year does come with uncertainty, I believe it will be overcome by consumer optimism. By the end of the second quarter, consumers should start to see the effect of economic policy changes. Those changes will result in lower prices on commodity goods. And this should free up discretionary dollars in home furnishings and similar categories.

Carlos Bosch, president, Violino
We have been monitoring the conversations surrounding tariffs out of China since the formation in the rumor mill, and it isn’t in our nature to deliver a panicked response on anything, so we have been quietly deliberating for a while on our next step to address these uncertain times.
Like anybody else, we don’t know what will happen by January, but we always keep our dealers top of mind and want to ensure we can give them flexibility and peace of mind in all of this.
We have secured a facility near Ho Chi Minh that will allow us to expand our current assortment. In the event that tariffs do not increase, we will continue to utilize our Vietnam factory for specific needs and opportunities. In the event that higher tariffs are placed on China, we will mobilize this factory to ensure our retailers are taken care of and we can continue to deliver quality product on time. Either way this plays out, our Vietnam production will dovetail what we are already doing in China, so we are excited about this expansion and the opportunities to come.
We’re also excited to showcase some new frames and covers that we are introducing at Las Vegas Market from or Vietnam factory. This will be the first introduction out of the new facility, so we’re eager to see the start of this program.

Alex Wright, vice president, Wright’s Furniture & Flooring, Dieterich, Ill.
We are keeping all our best-sellers stocked from all manufacturers but are waiting to see how tariffs will play out before we order new items.

Scott Bowman, owner, Zak’s Home, Johnson City, Tenn.
The biggest thing we are working on is differentiation. Everybody seems to be carrying the same things. We are focusing on being different and varying our selection from the same old, usual stuff. We are experimenting with new vendors and new and different items.
We are also in discussions with our freight brokers, especially ocean freight brokers to ensure we are receiving the lowest freight rates possible.
But business has been good. So we aren’t going to change what is working at the current time.