Pre-tariff bump? Furniture sales up big in March, says DOC
The category continued its run of year-over-year gains dating back to late last year according to advance monthly estimates.
WASHINGTON — Furniture and home furnishings sales in March outpaced their 2024 numbers by more than seven points, according to the Department of Commerce’s advance monthly estimates.
For the month, the category totaled $11.67 billion in adjusted estimated sales, a 7.7% increase compared with $10.84 billion in March 2024. The March figure was down slightly, 0.7%, against February’s adjusted preliminary $11.756 billion. However, it continues a recent run of year-over-year gains since late 2024.
Year-to-date, furniture and home furnishings sales have totaled an unadjusted $32.95 billion, up 4.9% on 2024’s totals.
March was the last month before the Trump administration’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs (which are currently in a 90-day pause) and 145% duties on goods from China, so it’s possible that some of the month’s furniture sales are due to consumers pulling demand forward ahead of anticipated increases.
https://www.rrd.com/retail and consumer behavior expert Chip West attributed some of the year-over year growth to tax refund dollars being allocated toward home décor purchases. “Additionally, with many retailers in this category relying heavily on overseas supply chains, consumers were likely motivated by compelling, strong offers and preemptively purchased,” West added. “I expect this trend to continue in the near term where promotional offers can rein in high-intent furniture shoppers.”
The overall retail snapshot showed an adjusted estimated $734.87 billion in March, which represented a 4.6% gain on March 2024’s $702.52 billion and a 1.4% increase on February’s $722.944 billion.
While all categories but gas stations were up year-over-year, motor vehicle and parts dealers had the highest gain at 8.8% while health and personal care stores were up 7.2%. Related to furniture and home furnishings sales, building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers were up 2.6% on March 2024.
The DOC’s advance estimates are based on a sub-sample of the U.S. Census Bureau’s full retail and food services sample. A stratified random sampling method is used to select approximately 5,500 retail and food services firms whose sales are then weighted and benchmarked to represent the complete universe of more than 3 million retail and food services firms.
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