What the ‘Under 40’ class is watching

Members of sister pub Furniture Today‘s 40 Under 40 list share their perspective on the outlook for 2025 and trends they are watching.

Pate Rauluk
buyer/ merchant
Clive Daniel Home

We are cautiously optimistic for business in 2025. With interest rate cuts happening, we expect to see consumer behaviors change in our favor. Construction and real estate play a huge role in our business model as we outfit model homes and stage residential resale.

With the rate cuts we expect this sector to continue to perform in Florida. We have been somewhat insulated from the mass decline that the rest of the country had seen, due to hurricane damage replacements and new projects in relation to these events.”

Bree Cassidy
marketing coordinator
Howard Elliot

I have high hopes for 2025 and try to maintain an optimistic outlook for the home furnishings industry. Over the past few markets, I’ve noticed a lot of new faces, which fills me with confidence about the future.

As we move into 2025, we’re closely watching key factors like interest rates, inflation and housing market trends. Equally important is understanding consumer behavior: staying attuned to what inspires and motivates our customers helps us deliver on-trend, innovative designs that resonate.

Alex Seaman
senior vice president
Furniture.com

Apart from the obvious, such as interest rates, we are watching closely the consumer adoption of generative AI. As we move from a world of thousands of results to specific answers, we are architecting our platform to mimic this shift.

Despite having more than 1 million products on our site, we are implementing technologies that help understand and predict the needs of the consumer so that when they select, search and filter, we are serving product that match their intent, rather than endless possibilities that become overwhelming.

Rachel Stukenberg
assistant buyer
Darvin Furniture

A lot rides on what the Trump administration can accomplish in the next four years. Tariffs on foreign goods could end up having a ripple effect for consumers. If we see more tariffs that may end up being a good thing for domestic goods and factories here in the U.S.

With inflation still high and big companies refusing to lower pricing on even essential goods, … it [is] difficult for the average consumer to buy bigger ticket items like furniture.

That is something that has weighed heavily on my mind as we go forward. Good competitive price points are important heading into 2025.

Another issue is high housing costs with higher interest rates. Younger generations have struggled to push into the housing market. Baby Boomers still carry a lot of buying power, but that demographic will be fading out in the next decade.

We also have a changing landscape of competitors in our area going into 2025. We are always looking to be competitive in our local area in every way possible. That means good variety, great range of pricing, good looks, etc.

Trend-watching

Aliena Klaus
vice president of marketing
Sunset West

There’s so much going on right now, but at the end of the day we can only focus on the controllables, while keeping abreast of all of the potentially very volatile changes.

There are several things that we watch. We’re looking for housing to come back, and at housing inventory. We’re all waiting (interest) rates to continue to come back down. We also look at things like pool permits to get a sense of demand.

But at the end of the day, like, we can’t control any of it. Like everyone else, we just watch.

Pate Rauluk

We have increasingly looked to European influences to set the direction for our trends. European designs offer a unique blend of style, sophistication and innovation that we find both refreshing and inspiring. Their approach often emphasizes timeless elegance combined with a modern edge, which has resonated well with our audience and aligned seamlessly with our brand vision.

By integrating these elements, we’ve been able to elevate our offerings and create distinctive, trend-forward collections that stand out in the marketplace. European aesthetics not only bring fresh perspectives, but also embody a level of craftsmanship and attention to detail that truly enhances our products.

Bree Cassidy

We stay ahead of fashion and design trends by closely following European influences, as what’s popular there often makes its way to our market shortly after.

To ensure our marketing remains fresh and effective, we continuously track the latest technology and social media trends, adapting our strategies to stay relevant and engaging.

Our focus goes beyond simply following trends; we prioritize providing our customers with the “why” behind our designs and processes. By sharing the story and purpose behind what we do, we aim to create deeper connections and build trust with our customer.

Alex Seaman

Now that the social media generation (older Gen Zs and younger Millennials) are aging up into the segment that’s buying furniture, we have to pay attention to how those folks consume content to ultimately be part of their shopping journey.

The rise in micro-influencer and creator culture allows consumers to broaden their engagement outside of just the big trends, connecting them to a plethora of individual and niche styles. We are increasingly focusing our own content creation initiatives with this in mind. We produce about 40k words of content per month, and anything that lives in social spaces tends to have a style over trend focus.

We’re also keeping an eye on now quickly ‘niche aesthetics’ can find traction. In fact, many of the viral moments in our space are being born out of third space. It may be influenced by a trending look in culture, or just something that catches fire from a grass roots base. We look to both engage and create to be part of that conversation in real time.

See also: Furniture Today’s 40 Under 40 of 2024