WHY IS IT ... 20 YEARS AGO, THERE WERE OVER 40,000 FURNITURE STOREFRONTS IN THE U.S., BUT BY RECENT YEARS, THIS NUMBER HAD DECREASED TO AROUND 22,000
Bill Napier
Brand Strategist | Business Transformation Expert | An Architect of Brands | Furniture Visionary & Disruptor - "Let's ditch the ordinary and embrace the extraordinary". - BE DIFFERENT. Proud USAF Vet.
Recent data suggests there are around 15,000 to 20,000 total furniture stores in the U.S. in 2025, with independent retailers likely comprising a significant but shrinking portion of this total—potentially around 10,000 to 15,000, though this is a conservative estimate and could be lower due to ongoing consolidations and closures.
OUCH
On March 9, 2025, I read an article in Furniture Today: Can we untrain, then retrain, consumers to buy value? | Sheila Long O’Mara
?The article addressed the industry’s reliance on Holiday Sales for Mattress Retailers, BUT it is the same issue, industry-wide.
WHY IS THAT?
Of course, the usual excuses. Economy, Housing starts, Consumer Confidence, and wait for it, COVID, or something.
In my opinion, if you only rely on Holiday Sales, you have 2 MAJOR ISSUES and 5 ways to change it!
#1 You are working with a mindset of retailing in 2005, when advertising SALES was prominent, and you only had a couple of mediums to promote your store
#2 You don’t have anyone on staff that is doing research as to what, why, and how Today’s Consumers shop and buy stuff and the ability to execute on their findings. (Or it is too expensive….BUT when you have a GOB, you’ll market the heck out of it, right)?
I have, Ad Nauseam, tried to help my industry understand what is happening when it comes to buying furniture and stuff. I haven’t counted all the tips, posts and articles, but I’m sure it’s close to one hundred.
So let me discuss 5 facts that you are probably ignoring….and paying the price for ignoring them, in short form and previous article links I’ve posted.
And how the two major issues I mentioned above work hand in hand to help you NOT meet your sales goals.
#1 - Social Media and AI Search are the Go-To Platforms to find products, reviews and just about anything else.
FACT #1– SOCIAL MEDIA
As of July 2023, there were 5.19 billion internet users worldwide. Of these, 4.88 billion were social media users.
That’s 142 million consumers you probably are NOT reaching, even with your Holiday Sales!
READ MORE ABOUT MY RESEARCH & THE FACTS, HERE https://lnkd.in/eHs-2HB
FACT #2 – YOUR CONTENT IS BASIC, BORING AND NOT ENGAGING
This problem has its roots from the manufacturer pushing out what they wrote on their API Feed to all their retailers, so everyone who sells their products has “Sameness”. People do NOT want “Pedestrian Anything”.
AND MORE (These are just a few)
OMG, have you tried AI for content? It is so easy and wonderful. Just feed the platform the basics and ask it to write you an engaging description. You’ll be shocked how good it is and how easy.
Then I’d start replacing the manufacturer's basic descriptions with the new AI descriptions. You can probably find a high school or college student to do this for very little money.
I BET YOU ARE NOT ADDRESSING THE CURRENT AND FUTURE HOUSING MARKETS
It will take a few years for the housing market to boom again. Yes, interest rates are coming down a bit, but can your store afford to wait it out?
FACT #3 – PEOPLE ARE NOT BUYING HOUSES; THEY ARE RENTING UNTIL INTEREST RATES FALL.
And I bet your store, website and promotions do NOT address this FACT
Over 416,000 new apartment complexes will be built this year, and the average apartment size is 1,200 sq ft. Multifamily?construction in the last two years is?at a 50-year high.
The average rent for this size apartment ranges between $1,200.00 - $2,300.00
Additionally, retirees are downsizing to smaller homes, condos, or apartments. Back when I ran the marketing at Ashley Furniture, we promoted “Room Packages” and what was hot, were coordinated room packages: Living, Dining, and Bedrooms with the same design theme.
NOT ANYMORE. People are NOT buying rooms anymore, they are buying “pieces” and smaller ones with storage options that fit into apartments, and small space living quarters.
I bet you are NOT promoting items on your website, in your store, or on any of your social media to promote this buying fact.
Wayfair, Walmart, Target, Amazon, and many of your largest online furniture retailers do. Why do you let them take away your business?
READ MORE ABOUT MY RESEARCH ON SMALL SPACE LIVING & THE FACTS, HERE; https://lnkd.in/e7-PzUp5
FACT #4 -? 75% OF CONSUMERS SURVEYED STATE THEY WOULD RATHER SHOP IN-STORE VS. ONLINE.
What are you doing to capture this FACT?
Are you using your website and social media to drive in-store traffic? Not just Facebook, but all the platforms!
BUY IN-STORE AND SAVE. Consider offering Furniture HOT BUYS In-Store ONLY. Maybe tag items with an icon showing this. The goal is to get them in your store and potentially up-sell them with rugs, lamps, accessories, and more.
BUT, you must have your store dressed
Signs increase business as much as 150%
Proper signage and point-of-sale (POS) materials can help increase sales and impulse buys dramatically.
Using in-store visual triggers effectively may increase your sales by up to 29.5% since attention equals opportunity and unplanned purchases.
Not only can you promote your specials, product features, benefits, construction, etc. You can create a Small Space Living Section/Gallery. (FYI, we’ve created over 1,800 In-Store Furniture Galleries…We can help)!
FACT #5 – YOU PURPOSELY IGNORE THE POWER OF SHORT PRODUCT VIDEOS HIGHLIGHTING FEATURE, BENEFITS AND MORE
Consumers find short-form Content A Staggering 2.5 Times more engaging than long-form videos or reading your content. This explosive growth is evident across platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels, Facebook, and YouTube, where users are increasingly turning to quick, relevant content.
More ideas
READ MORE ABOUT MY RESEARCH ON SHORT FORM VIDEOS & THE FACTS, HERE: https://lnkd.in/ge4acrPc
SUMMARY
STOP making excuses and start paying attention to how 142,000,000 people shop today.
I have a ton of more information and research I could share, but I doubt most in our industry won’t even read this.
If you’d like, reach out to me and I’d be more than happy to discuss all of this and more. No Strings Attached, NO Sales pitch.
WE CAN REVIEW?AND DISCUSS;
Website & Web Presence ??Social & Digital Marketing Platforms ? Brand Management?? ?Retail?Strategy ? Your Marketing, Advertising & Promotion Strategies & Tactics ?? Marketing Communications
Or any other discussion item you want to address.
Check out what My customers have said about my work: Bill Napier Business Overview - NAPIER MARKETING GROUP, LLC
Managing Partner
Napier Marketing Group, LLC. [email protected] 612-217-1297? (Main Number)?
www.social4retail.com?(The largest FREE marketing informational website in North America)
Transforming Brands into Unforgettable Experiences | Executive Marketing Leader | Driving Experiential Campaigns, Client Engagement & Multi-Million Dollar Growth
4 天前Interesting perspective, Bill. Great stuff as usual from you all these years. Let me know if any of your furniture clients want to take thier products on the road or set up in unconventional places where the consumers are and they are not. Hope all is well
Nationally recognized author and speaker on Strategic Business Models. Noted small business coach/advisor, growth authority.
4 天前Great post, Bill. Continuing to reach out to customers the same ways done 20 years ago will result in disasterous outcomes. We have faced more changes than any other time in history.