Brick-and-Mortar's Big Comeback, January Sales Rise, Tariffs, & More

Originally published February 19, 2025. This version was rebuilt from La-Z-Boy's results, the Census Bureau's retail and new residential construction reports, and the reciprocal trade memorandum for the FIN archive, and the facts are as of that date.

In mid-February 2025 the best news in furniture came from physical stores. The housing pipeline and trade policy were less encouraging.

The short version

• La-Z-Boy said retail segment sales increased 11% in its fiscal third quarter.
• Census said January furniture store sales were up 3.7% from a year earlier.
• Census and HUD said January housing starts fell 9.8% from December.

Brick-and-mortar comeback

La-Z-Boy reported consolidated delivered sales of $522 million, up 4%, with retail segment sales up 11% on same-store growth, acquisitions of independent galleries and new stores.

Written sales at its company-owned La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries rose 15%, with written same-store sales up 7%. The company said all key markets posted positive same-store trends.

Strong showroom results showed that shoppers still wanted to sit on a sofa before buying it, and that well-run stores could take share in a soft market.

January sales rise

The Census Bureau showed furniture and home furnishings store sales up 3.7% from January 2024, though down 1.7% from December. Total retail and food services sales fell 0.9% for the month.

Housing and tariffs

Privately owned housing starts fell 9.8% in January to 1,366,000, while completions rose to 1,651,000, up 9.8% from a year earlier. Completions bring near-term furniture demand, while starts point to later quarters.

On February 13 a memorandum set out a Fair and Reciprocal Plan for tariffs on each trading partner, adding to the 10% duty on Chinese goods already in place.

The takeaway for industry pros

Physical retail was winning where execution was strong. A strong run of completions helped near-term demand, but starts and tariff plans pointed to a harder second half.

Related on FIN

• Furniture Showrooms Run on Morale
• Every Door in Town

Sources

• La-Z-Boy Incorporated, Third quarter fiscal 2025 results (Feb. 18, 2025)
• U.S. Census Bureau, Advance monthly retail sales, January 2025
• U.S. Census Bureau and HUD, New residential construction, January 2025
• The White House, Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs memorandum (Feb. 13, 2025)
• The White House, Executive Order 14195 on China (Feb. 1, 2025)