Final Report The U.S. Retail Furniture Industry By Adam Smith ECO100 Professor John Doe 1/1/2020 Almost everyone buys furniture. We use furniture in our houses and businesses as places to sit (chairs sofas stools) work (desks chairs) and sleep (beds.) Its an important part of everyday life. Furniture is manufactured all around the world and is sold to consumers and businesses. Sometimes it is sold through online sites. It is also sold through retail stores. This paper describes the U.S. retail furniture industry. Description of the U.S. Retail Furniture Industry Furniture is defined as movable articles as tables chairs desks or cabinets required for use or ornament in a house office or the like. (dictionary.com 1) There are many different categories of furniture. Furniture includes household furniture outdoor furniture and office furniture. (Census Bureau NAICS category 442110 2) There are thousands of furniture retailers in the United States. Some of them are owned by chains. Some are individual mom and pop outlets. The two biggest furniture retailers are Ashley Furniture and Ikea. (apartmenttherapy.com 3) U.S. furniture sales were $111 billion in 2019. (modishstore.com 4) The top 100 furniture retailers accounted for 75% of all furniture sales in the United States. (modishstore.com 4) Retail Furniture Executives Should Monitor Unemployment Business executives in the retail furniture industry should monitor the unemployment rate. Furniture is a durable good. Consumers often delay durable good purchases when the economy is weak. They make do with what they have as long as they can when they are unemployed. The unemployment rate is a good indicator of how able consumers are to purchase durable goods such as furniture. By monitoring the unemployment rate business executives in the retail furniture business will get an indication of how strong future sales will be. Movements in the Unemployment Rate The Excel table and graph show that the unemployment rate increased during the Great Recession of 2008-2009. But it has declined since then all the way through 2019. Future of the Retail Furniture Industry The COVID-19 quarantine hurt many industries including retail furniture. Customers stayed home more and did not go shopping. I think that retail furniture sales will increase when people feel safe again. This might not happen until a vaccine for COVID is available. After people feel safe to shop I think retail furniture sales will be strong. The need for furniture is still there. Customers need to be able to go to stores and make their purchases safely. (furnituretoday.com 5) Sources 1. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/furniture 2. https://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/sssd/naics/naicsrch?code=442110&search=2017%20NAICS%20Search 3 https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/top-100-us-furniture-stores-by-137079 4 https://www.modishstore.com/blogs/decor/us-furniture-market#:~:text=The%20Market reaching%20%24111%20billion%20in%202019. 5. https://www.furnituretoday.com/welcome-ad/?retUrl=/furniture-retailing/retail-stores-starting-to-reopen-after-covid-19-outbreak/ -research paper writing service
