Marc Barnes
HIGH POINT — If anything, the challenges for the nation’s medium-sized furniture retailers are greater than they are for the 100 biggest stores, given that the smaller you are, the less room there is for error.

The good news for these retailers is that they are finding a way to succeed, despite daily challenges.

The numbers tell part of the story: In 2012, the Top 100 saw an 8.3% sales gain, more than twice the 4.1% gain in furniture, bedding and accessories sales at all U.S. furniture stores in 2012, which came to $52.4 billion.

Jerry Epperson, an industry analyst and managing director of Mann, Armistead & Epperson, said these figures show that the smaller independents continue to face numerous challenges in the current business climate. The factors include continuing increases in the cost of real estate and gas, as well as a drop in the size of average sales tickets due to imports and price deflation.

“It’s getting more and more expensive to be truly competitive,” Epperson said.

Richard Ennis, president of Ennis Fine Furniture in Boise, Idaho, which has eight locations, is experiencing the real estate crunch first hand. He opened a new Thomasville store in February 2012 and is looking to expand in the Spokane, Wash., and Reno, Nev., markets — if the right deal comes along.