Furniture Showrooms Are Losing Home Buyers. Pending Home Sales Fell 15.9%.
Home buying hit a record low going into the holidays. Plus tariff refunds stuck on missing bank details and a possible port strike in Southern California.
News and analysis for furniture professionals.
Retail, supply chain, trade and the deals behind them, written by someone who has spent decades in the business.
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Furniture Showrooms Run on Morale
When traffic slows, leaders set the mood. The best ones take market share.
Furniture Shoppers Are Holding Back. Big-Ticket Buying Sentiment Fell 18%.
Higher rates have customers wary of big purchases, and mattress import duties are staying put. Plus port fees and tariff refunds.
Furniture Delivery Fees Need a Fresh Look as Diesel Climbs
Ocean rates from Asia are inching up too, just as fewer homes go under contract before the holidays. Plus Ethan Allen, Southern Motion and tariff refunds.
Furniture Factories Made Less in September
U.S. furniture output fell for a second straight month and sits 4.1% below a year ago. Builders report the weakest buyer traffic since 2012. West Coast ports just had a record September.
The Furniture Store Next Door Has Your Best Seller on Its Floor
The manufacturers who chase every new account end up losing the retailers who made their products successful in the first place.
Furniture Sales Rose. Costs Are Rising Faster.
Furniture stores sold more in September, but fuel, freight and factory costs are climbing while shelf prices fall. Here's how to protect your margin.
Move-In Furniture Tickets Are Drying Up
Fewer signed home deals means fewer move-in furniture tickets into the holidays. Pending sales fell to their lowest level since 2014.
What a Data Center Has to Do With Your Sofa (Part Two)
Less freight is moving than a year ago, but trucks cost about a third more. Here is why that won't fix itself.
Furniture Store Sales Fell 2.7%. Every Other Category Grew.
Furniture stores sold 2.7% less than a year ago in September while every other retail category grew.
Furniture orders rose 9%. Factories still aren't hiring for it.
Orders, shipments and backlog rose together for 3 months. Factory jobs haven't followed.
Furniture Freight Has a New Playbook
PART ONE OF TWO
Mortgage Rates Jumped to 7.28%. Housing Still Drags Tickets.
Mortgage Rates Jumped to 7.28%. Housing Still Drags Tickets.Today's big number is the mortgage rate. Freddie Mac's 30-year fixed average printed 7.28%, up from 7.03% last week. That’s a sharp weekly move, and it…