Furniture & Home Furnishings Wholesalers
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 10,200 furniture and home furnishings wholesalers in the US resell furniture and home furnishings to retailers, builders, and other commercial customers. Major product categories include flooring and floor coverings; office and business furniture; household and lawn furniture; and linens, domestics, curtains, and draperies. Most companies are small, independent operators that serve a local market.
Dependence On Housing And Construction
The furniture and home furnishings wholesale industry is highly dependent on downstream demand from the housing and construction markets, which is influenced by economic factors.
Competition From Alternative Sources
Furniture and home furnishings wholesalers face competition from a variety of alternative sources, including manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and other channels which allow customers to buy direct.
Industry size & Structure
The average furniture and home furnishings wholesaler operates out of a single location, employs about 11 workers, and generates $10-11 million in annual revenue.
- The furniture and home furnishings wholesale industry consists of about 10,200 companies that employ 114,000 workers and generate about $107.5 billion annually.
- The industry is fragmented; the top 50 companies account for 31% of industry revenue.
- Most companies are small, independent operators that serve a local market. Large companies include Arc International North America (subsidiary of Arc International SA, glassware and tableware distributor), Global Furniture USA, Furniture Wholesale Group, AAA Furniture Wholesale, and Building Plastics, Inc. (floor coverings).
- Some large furniture and home furnishings manufacturers are vertically-integrated and operate wholesale distribution warehouses that sell direct to commercial customers.
Industry Forecast
Furniture & Home Furnishings Wholesalers Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Jan 28, 2025 - Sales Growth Expected for Mattresses in 2025
- Mattress manufacturers are poised for a recovery in 2025 following a 4.5% sales decrease in 2024, according to Furniture Today. The International Sleep Products Association expects 2025 mattress sales to rise by about 3% in value and 1.5% in unit sales. In dollars, mattress sales are forecast to grow to $9.7 billion in 2025 from $9.4 billion in 2024. Sales are projected to remain under 2023’s sales of $9.8 billion. As bedding executives look to 2025, their top concerns include inflation, elevated interest rates, a stagnant housing market, and possible tariffs. However, bedding executives think consumer confidence will improve, and conditions will stabilize in 2024, leading to a modest recovery.
- The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) monthly jobs report shows that unfilled job openings declined in December 2024, with a seasonally adjusted 35% of small business owners reporting jobs they could not fill. The reading is down one point from November 2024. A seasonally adjusted net 19% of small business owners plan to create new jobs over the next three months, up one point from November. About 20% of owners reported labor quality as the most important problem facing the business. According to NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg, “Finding qualified workers remained a major headwind for stronger job growth on Main Street in December. In the meantime, compensation increases have softened among small businesses, but remained solid as the year came to an end.”
- Furniture costs are expected to increase according to a new study by the National Retail Federation (NRF) of the estimated impact of president-elect Donald Trump’s tariff proposals. The study looked at the effect of tariffs on prices of major consumer product categories including apparel, toys, furniture, household appliances, footwear and travel goods. Trump has proposed a universal 10-20% tariff on imports from all countries and an additional tax on imports from China. Per the NRF study, consumers would pay $13.9 billion to $24 billion more for apparel, $8.8 billion to $14.2 billion more for toys, $8.5 billion to $13.1 more for furniture, and $6.4 billion to $10.9 billion more for household appliances with the proposed tariffs in place. The study showed the tariffs would have a “significant and detrimental impact” on the costs of a wide range of consumer products, in particular those products supplied primarily by China.
- Consumer confidence levels declined in December 2024, falling by 8.1 points from the previous month, according to The Conference Board. The Consumer Confidence Index was 104.7 in December 2024 from 112.8 in November 2024. Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, noted that those remaining most confident on a six-month moving average basis confidence were those aged under 35 and those in the income category of over $100,000. Per Peterson, “The recent rebound in consumer confidence was not sustained in December as the Index dropped back to the middle of the range that has prevailed over the past two years.” Purchasing plans for homes decreased while plans to buy new cars and big-ticket items rose in December 2024 on a six-month average basis.
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