If confirmation was needed of the difficult selling environment confronting the furniture industry, this year’s Top 100 list offers a strong case in point. For the second consecutive year sales of the Top 100 fell, with roughly 75% of the retailers on the list showing declines; many of them by double digits.
Since 2022, sales of the Top 100 have dropped more than 15%, representing roughly $9 billion in sales declines. Even those competing at the high end were not immune, with several of the largest in that group showing significant drops for the year.
The difficulty in luring consumers through the doors proved too much for several once venerable Top 100’s, with Conn’s/Badcock, Big Lots, American Freight, Sam Levitz and The RoomPlace among those pushed into reorganization or dissolution.
See also:
In the absence of a significant change of fortunes, there is every indication that 2025 will see others join the list.
Many in the industry entered this year with expectations of a turnaround. Slowing inflation and a corresponding belief that interest rates would see significant cuts gave industry insiders hope for a resurging housing market. Instead, inflation has proven more stubborn than anticipated, even prior to the tariff-fostered price adjustments that have defined the industry outlook since mid-February.
At the same time consumer discretionary spending has remained soft this year, with a few short-lived sales spikes, and uncertainty around the cost of necessities has made consumers hold even more tightly to their discretionary dollars.
On a more encouraging note, several Top 100’s continued their growth pace in 2024, and all indications are that those in growth mode are being slowed only minimally by the current business climate.
Recent discussions with both retailers and manufacturers at High Point Market suggest that, once the current tariff situation is resolved, companies are confident they will be able to navigate the resulting global business environment to begin targeting growth opportunities.
At the same time there is growing evidence, both anecdotal and statistical, that consumers remain committed to shopping physical retail and that younger consumers in particular are beginning to rediscover the format.
Those two factors could help with business momentum significantly and, if coupled with a meaningful interest rate decrease that reinvigorates the housing market, could position the furniture industry for significant growth in 2026 and beyond.
There are an uncomfortable number of “ifs” in that hypothesis, and given the volatility of the current global business and political climate it would be naïve to believe that anything will progress as smoothly and directly outlined.
However, the furniture industry has demonstrated remarkable resilience, resolve and adaptability in the face of five consecutive years of disruption. This year’s Top 100 includes several new names to replace those who have closed, and the same will be true no doubt in the future, just as it has been in the past.
Let’s take a moment to celebrate those on this year’s list. It wasn’t easy to get there, and it won’t be easy to stay there. But those on this list have earned their place.
Congratulations to you all!