Tariffs, Turnarounds, and Tough Choices. Furniture's New Reality

Originally published October 27, 2025. This version was rebuilt from the tariff proclamation, the BLS September consumer price index and At Home's emergence announcement for the FIN archive, and the facts are as of that date.

Two weeks into the new furniture tariffs, the competitive picture was starting to shift. The same week, one of the larger home decor chains finished its restructuring.

The short version

• Section 232 duties on upholstered wooden furniture, cabinets and vanities took effect October 14.
• The BLS said furniture and bedding prices rose 0.9% in September and 3.8% from a year earlier.
• At Home emerged from Chapter 11 on October 24 with new financing.

Imports versus domestic

The Section 232 proclamation set a 25% duty on certain upholstered wooden products and on kitchen cabinets and vanities, with higher rates scheduled for January. That narrowed the price gap between imported upholstery and pieces made in the United States, and gave domestic makers a better pitch to retailers.

Update. The January increases were delayed to January 1, 2027.

Prices before the tariffs

The BLS consumer price report released October 24 showed overall prices up 0.3% in September and 3.0% over 12 months. The furniture and bedding index rose 0.9% for the month and 3.8% from September 2024, before the new Section 232 duties took effect.

Living room, kitchen and dining room furniture prices were up 5.9% from a year earlier, and bedroom furniture was up 1.5%. With prices already climbing on earlier tariffs, the October duties on upholstered pieces were landing on shoppers who had already seen sofas and dining sets get more expensive.

At Home's turnaround

At Home said it had eliminated substantially all of its nearly $2 billion in funded debt through Chapter 11 and secured $500 million in new exit financing. Ownership passed to a group of its lenders, and the chain kept operating 229 stores.

Tough choices

Tariffs were rewarding domestic production and punishing heavy import reliance. Retailers that restructured early, like At Home, had more room to adjust.

Related on FIN

• Follow the Tariff Dollars
• Every Door in Town

Sources

• The White House, Proclamation adjusting imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products (Sept. 29, 2025)
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index, September 2025 (Oct. 24, 2025)
• The White House, Amendments to the timber and lumber proclamation (Dec. 31, 2025)
• At Home, At Home emerges from Chapter 11 (Oct. 24, 2025)