Kay Anderson — Furniture Today,
Retail Planning Guide 2013

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HIGH POINT — Spending for furniture and bedding, estimated at $77.7 billion in 2012, is projected to increase 23% by 2017 according to statisticians at Easy Analytic Software Inc., based in New York. 

While imports have kept prices low, demographics continue to favor growth in furniture sales. During the five-year period, baby boomers, known for their acquiring ways, will be in their peak earning years.  Their kids, sometimes called echo boomers, other times called Generation Y, are entering their household formation years and, with better educations than their parents, frequently have more money to spend at an earlier age.

As in recent years, the best prospects for sales growth for furniture are in the West and South. In both regions, sales are expected to outpace the national average. In the West, spending is expected to rise by 25%; in the South, by 24%.  Sales in the Northeast and Midwest are expected to lag the national average, growing by 19% in the Northeast and 20% in the Midwest.

Of the 18 states expected to exceed the national average in growth of furniture and bedding spending, only one, New Hampshire, is outside the Western or Southern sphere. Eight are in the South and nine are in the West. 

As it has for the past several years, Nevada is expected to have the greatest sales growth, reaching $837 million in furniture and bedding sales by 2017, a 36% increase over 2012. The bulk of those sales will be in the Las Vegas-Paradise area, expected to grow by 39% and hit nearly $600 million in 2017 sales.

*For the complete story, see Furniture/Today’s year-end Retail Planning Guide 2013.  This exclusive report includes our analyses of the year that was 2012 and our outlook for 2013.  Click here to order an electronic copy.