Furniture Manufacturers & Distributor Orders Down 33% in 2022

High Point, NC, March 6, 2023-"Furniture industry consultant Smith Leonard just released a survey of furniture manufacturers and distributors showing new orders in December 2022 were down 31% from December 2021 and down 33% for the year,” reports Furniture Today.

“As for the current state of the industry, Smith Leonard noted that business is continuing at a slower pace for most survey participants, and for those companies not feeling the slow down, incoming orders aren’t steady.

“Pricing pressures are building as freight costs have come down along with some material costs, and Smith Leonard urged manufacturers and retailers to try to maintain better margins even if reductions in freight are given.

“‘We hate to keep beating the same drum, but there is no reason to give in to the pressures to get prices down, due to lower consumer demand,’ said Ken Smith, co-founder and assurance manager, in the report. ‘It was proven during the past couple of years that furniture can be sold to consumers at reasonable prices, especially since they proved that they do not know what a piece should cost. So, wholesalers, manufacturers and retailers should not give up the reasonable margins that they were able to obtain in the past couple of years.’

“He noted that trying to compare year-over-year figures are difficult as price increases over the past year were given for the various reasons. As wholesale prices went up in the 25% to 30% range, those costs made it difficult to determine what the real increases in business were.

“With price concessions being given for freight reductions and other material cost declines, Smith Leonard encourages companies to compare their results with an eye on the impact of their own units sold.”