Furniture Stores
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 12,800 furniture retailers in the US sell new furniture and furniture-related goods, such as appliances, home electronics, home furnishings, and floor coverings. Major product categories include living room, dining room, and bedroom furniture; upholstered furniture; sleep equipment (mattresses, waterbeds); kitchen/dinette furniture; office furniture; and sleeper sofas, daybeds, and futons. Companies may specialize in a particular type of product (sofas, beds), style (contemporary, traditional), or price tier.
Dependence On Credit
Furniture is a large ticket purchase and many consumers depend on credit for funding.
Competition From Alternative Retailers
Furniture stores compete with a variety of alternative retailers, including department stores, retail arms of furniture manufacturers, mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs, home furnishings stores, and Internet and catalog retailers.
Industry size & Structure
The average furniture store operates out of a single location, employs 16 workers, and generates about $5.8 million annually.
- The furniture store industry consists of about 12,800 companies that employ about 212,000 workers and generate about $75 billion annually.
- Some companies are vertically-integrated - large retailers, such as Ethan Allen, may produce proprietary lines of furnishings.
- The industry is fragmented; the top 50 firms account for 51% of industry sales.
- Large companies include Ashley Furniture, Rooms to Go, Mattress Firm, and Haverty's.
Industry Forecast
Furniture Stores Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Mar 24, 2025 - Retailers Prepare for Tariff Impacts
- According to a Furniture Today Strategic Insights survey of retailers, nearly half of respondents said that they floor at least 60% imported products, making their profit margins vulnerable to tariff impacts. Top sources of imported goods among respondents were China, Vietnam, Mexico, and Canada. A majority of retailers said they were very concerned about the new Trump administration’s tariffs on goods from China and the pending 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada. More than half of respondents said they would not be willing to absorb any tariff-related price increase before passing the increases onto consumers, while one out of three said they could absorb a less than 10% increase.
- According to a report in CFO Dive, consumer confidence levels, an indicator of discretionary spending, have fallen due to consumer anxiety about tariff effects and economic uncertainty. The consumer sentiment index from the University of Michigan dropped 11% in March 2025, marking the third straight month of declines and hitting the lowest level since November 2022. In addition, the Conference Board index of consumer confidence in February 2025 marked the biggest decline since August 2021 and the third straight month of declines. According to Stephanie Guichard, senior economist for global indicators at the Conference Board, “There was a sharp increase in the mentions of trade and tariffs, back to a level unseen since 2019. Most notably, comments on the current administration and its policies dominated the responses.”
- 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.
- Furniture costs are expected to increase according to a new study by the National Retail Federation (NRF) of the estimated impact of President 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. US retailers would be unable to absorb the increased costs and would need to raise prices “higher than many consumers would be willing or able to pay.” According to Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president of supply chain and customs policy, “Retailers rely heavily on imported products and manufacturing components so that they can offer their customers a variety of products at affordable prices. A tariff is a tax paid by the U.S. importer, not a foreign country or the exporter. This tax ultimately comes out of consumers’ pockets through higher prices.”
Get A Demo
Vertical IQ’s Industry Intelligence Platform
See for yourself why over 60,000 users trust Vertical IQ for their industry research and call preparation needs. Our easy-to-digest industry insights save call preparation time and help differentiate you from the competition.
Build valuable, lasting relationships by having smarter conversations -
check out Vertical IQ today.