How are you feeling about the state of our industry? | Allison Zisko
The home decor industry is ready, perhaps anxious, to turn the corner in 2025. Our Universe Report sums up 2024 business and what lies ahead.
How are you feeling about the future?
Although the contentious 2024 presidential election is behind us, the uncertainty, not surprisingly, remains. Putting aside our civic concerns for a moment, what does that mean for the home furnishings business?
Our exclusive Universe Report, which we featured in our November issue, reveals that estimated overall home accents sales decreased about 2% in 2024. The decline was felt across all categories: accent furniture suffered the largest drop, wall décor — a previous stronghold — was also down. Lamps and lighting fixtures fared the best, though no category experienced growth.
On the retail side, e-commerce barely experienced a blip in sales and lifestyle stores like Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn also held up well. But other channels of distribution, such as traditional furniture stores, floor covering stores and craft stores, felt the pinch.
The reasons for these declines vary. Consumers who pulled out all the stops to furnish or redecorate their homes during the pandemic years have had their fill of home furnishings and spent their more inflation-impacted dollars elsewhere this year. Housing continues to be completely stalled, which puts further downward pressure on the furnishings business. Even fun, colorful home accents, which typically sell well even when the larger furniture business does not, could not entice enough consumers to splurge a little on a pick-me-up item to refresh a room.
And then there was the election.
Manufacturers and retailers alike started citing the dampening effect of the presidential election on sales as early as the winter markets in Atlanta, Dallas and Las Vegas. This is a phenomenon that recurs every four years, regardless of who the candidates for office are, although you could argue the unique circumstances of this year’s election introduced a higher degree of business uncertainty than in past years. According to a TD Bank survey taken Oct. 26-28 at High Point Market, 25% of retailers surveyed said they were concerned about the impact of the election on their business; economic uncertainty was cited by 40%.
Consumers’ lack of discretionary income and changes in government policy — such as a potential increase in tariffs — were weighing on manufacturers’ minds for the potential to put some of them out of business.
Despite all of this, the industry is ready to turn the corner. Business tends to pick up shortly after an election, and most Universe Report survey respondents and people we met in the halls of High Point said they were optimistic about their prospects in 2025. Nearly 69% of those who responded to our survey said they expect demand for home accents and décor to somewhat increase. A very small group (6%) expect an even greater increase than this year. One in four believe sales will remain flat.
The TD Bank survey found nearly half of its retail respondents expect home furnishings purchases to pick up during the first six months of the year. Less than 1% said they were worried there would be no need for new furniture.
The future of furnishings should be fine.
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