Furniture & Home Furnishings Wholesalers NAICS 4232

May 27, 2025 - Slower Growth Expected

• The US furniture and home furnishings wholesaler industry is projected to grow at a 2.85% CAGR from 2025 to 2029, slower than the overall economy's projected growth, according to a forecast from Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc. The retail and wholesale sectors are driven by consumer spending, along with expenditure by businesses and government. The forecast said retail spending could soften with the growth of spending on consumer services. A factor that may limit consumer spending is higher tariffs on consumer goods. On a positive note, lower inflation supports a moderate increase of real disposable income by about 2% in 2025 and 1.9% in 2026. Real income could suffer to an extent if average prices rise due to tariff implementation.
• According to a new survey from the National Association of Wholesale-Distributors (NAW), tariffs are driving cost increases and creating operational challenges across the wholesale distribution industry. The survey was done in collaboration with Modern Distribution Management (MDM) Research. About a third of distributors say they face price increases of 25% or higher. According to Eric Hoplin, NAW’s CEO, “Though these increases haven’t hit store shelves yet, it’s an indication of where prices are headed.” About 62% of distributors expect their cost of goods will rise by 10% or more in 2025, while 67% of respondents report a negative impact on their business. Nearly 40% of respondents said more than 20% of their inventory originates in China, and only 17% can shift to domestic or non-impacted suppliers. Operational actions being taken by distributors include slowing inventory replacement (48%), delaying new hiring (44%), cutting capital investments (37%), and reducing discretionary spending (60%).

• According to Home Accents Today, several home accent vendors have notified customers of upcoming wholesale price increases due to recent tariffs and other factors. Vendors such as Accent Décor, DW Silks, and Kavana Décor cited their inability to absorb the costs of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration and elsewhere. Per the report, DW Silks announced it would raise prices between 5% to 15% beginning in April, and Accent Décor’s price increases, averaging 8%, went into effect in mid-March. In addition to evolving trade policies, HiEnd Accents cited higher costs of raw materials, labor, and global supply chain operations for its “modest increase” on many products.
• US case goods manufacturers are seeing an uptick in orders as more businesses look to mitigate risks related to new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, according to Furniture Today. Doug Bassett, president of Vaughan-Bassett, said its products are 100% made in the USA. He said some of the company’s larger customers, who typically also buy containers from Asia, have increased their orders with the company. Sherrill Furniture has minimized exposure by keeping its supply chain almost exclusively within a 30-mile radius of its factories in Hickory, North Carolina. Officials say their largest exposure has been imported fabrics, which it has shifted to domestically woven fabrics in the past few seasons. Domestic manufacturers say they are seeing more retailers seek stable US solutions as a hedge against tariff volatility.