Industry Sales by Quarter 2012 Q4 to 2019 Q4 Furniture & Bedding

January 31, 2020  by Laurie Northington in General   

Riding the tailwind of strong industry sales in the 3rd quarter, 4th quarter 2019 finished flat compared to Q3 (down 0.2%), but up 7.2% compared to the disappointing 4th quarter of 2018. Furniture sales, excluding Bedding, were up 1.2% 2019 Q3 to 2019 Q4 and up 7.9% versus the previous year, 2018 Q4. Year-end sales of $118.55 billion represent an increase of 5.1% over 2018, the smallest growth since 2013.

Furniture sales (excluding Bedding) grew 6.3% year-end 2019 over 2018. The fourth quarter posted 7.9% growth over the same Q4 last year, but only 1.2% higher than the previous 2019 Q3.

Bedding’s tumultuous last two years, with store closures and import woes, have resulted in slow and negative growth. Year-end sales of $15.89 were 1.9% below 2018 – the first negative growth since the Great Recession. In the 4th quarter of 2019, Bedding continued its seasonal pattern of 4th quarter slumps, down 9.5% compared to 2019 Q3. But sales were up 2.4% over the previous year (2018 Q4 to 2019 Q4).

2019 began the year with weak industry sales and economists’ predictions of a possible late-year recession that never came. Year-over-year quarterly growth kept increasing, despite months of uncertain tariff wars, with Q4 of 2019 improving 7.2% compared to the same Q4 of 2018.

Furniture, excluding Bedding, was up 7.9% Q4 2018 to Q4 2019 and Bedding up 2.4%.

Industry sales finished 2019 at $118.55 billion, an increase of 5.1% over 2018. This represents a slowing compared to 2018 growth of 7.0%. Furniture sales, excluding Bedding, totaled $102.65 billion – up 6.3% over 2018, while Bedding sales totaled $15.89 billion – a decline of 1.9% for the year.

Source:  Impact Consulting Services, Inc. Furniturecore.com industry model Note: Previous 2019 quarter sales have been revised slightly