Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Smith Leonard: Furniture Orders up 40% in October
December 31,
2020 by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry 
New orders in October were up 40% over October 2019 orders, following similar increases in September, August, July and June, according to a report by Smith Leonard accounting and consulting firm.
The firm’s monthly survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors showed new orders increased for 77% of the participants for the month and year-to-date orders are up 14%.
Shipments were up 8% over October 2019 after a 4% increase in September. It appears that imported goods are starting to flow as well as shortages of raw materials for domestic manufacturers has started to diminish, though prices of certain materials seem to be rising due to the shortages. Year to date, shipments remained 8% below the pace of the same period last year.
Backlogs continued to rise as orders once again surpassed shipments. Backlogs at the end of October were 141% higher than October 2019, again causing issues at the retail level. The backlogs are having trouble working down as, again, the flow of goods from primarily Asia has been slow to catch up, as well as the lack of workers in the domestic manufacturing sector.
Receivable levels continued to appear to be in line and conversations with manufacturers and distributors indicate that customers are continuing to pay on time for the most part.
Inventory levels remained 10% below last year’s levels, as they have not been able to catch up with the order rates due to the supply issues.