Executive Summary

In this report, we provide an update on the US furniture market so far in 2017, as well as highlight what could impact it over the longer term.

• Growth in furniture sales has weakened considerably year to date. Year-over-year growth in consumer spending on furniture averaged 2.5% in the first six months of 2017, almost half the 4.5% for all of 2016.
• Market growth was even weaker in May and June, the most recent months for which we have data.
• Soft growth in existing home sales and a weakening of real income growth are likely what is depressing expansion of the US furniture market.
• US Internet sales in the broader homewares and home furnishings category totaled $19.2 billion in 2016. We identify the top online homewares and furnishings retailers as Amazon, Wayfair and Williams-Sonoma.
• We note four factors that are likely to impact the US furniture market over the longer term: more people renting their homes, a greater proportion of the population living in apartments, a larger senior population wanting to “age in place” and millennials establishing households.

You may also be interested in The 2019 US Furniture Market, The Impact of the US-China Tariff War’s Impact on Furniture Brands and Retailers or Where do US Customers Prefer to Shop for Furniture.