FURNITURE IN THE US: IMPORTS KEEP GROWING FROM WORLD FURNITURE NEWSLETTER BY CSIL MILANO (AKTRIN RESEARCH)

Furniture World Magazine

With 263 million inhabitants and a per capita GNP of US$ 26,980 the United States economy is the largest in the world. In the last few years the US have been successful in maintaining a high level of employment while reducing the fiscal deficit and keeping inflation at a low level. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that the US economy will grow by 2.2% in 1998, with inflation remaining close to 3%. In 1996 the 101 million households in the United States spent about US$ 50 billion on furniture (at retail prices, including sales taxes), including US$ 21 billion for wooden furniture and US$ 18 billion for upholstered furniture. Household spending on furniture is close to 1% of after tax household income (in the last 15 years it fluctuated within a band between 0.88% and 1.02%). According to estimates by the American Furniture Manufacturers Association, consumer expenditure for furniture will grow by 2% in real terms in 1998. Household furniture production in the US amounted to about US$ 20 billion in 1996. Almost half of the total was produced by the 25 largest manufacturers. About 200,000 people are employed in furniture manufacturing, and about one third of the plants are located in North Carolina. The International Home Furnishings Market, held in High Point, North Carolina twice a year, is the most important trade event in the furniture sector. The top ten manufacturers in the US are: LifeStyle Furnishings International, Furniture Brands International, La-Z-Boy, Klaussner, Ladd, Sauder, Bassett, Ethan Allen, Ashley and O'Sullivan. Household furniture imports were about US$ 6 billion in 1996, up 12% from the previous year. The main sources of imports are Canada, China, Taiwan, Italy and Mexico. Strong growth of imports is expected to continue. The household furniture trade balance is negative and very large. It is likely to increase because exports appear to be stable, at a level of US$ 1.2 billion a year. Furniture is sold to the public by furniture stores (conventional furniture stores and specialty stores, for example bedding specialists, upholstery specialists etc.), galleries (manufacturers gallery programs within stores), department stores, discount stores, and by a variety of other means including mail orders. According to the annual survey by Furniture Today, the ten furniture stores with the highest turnover are Heilig-Meyers Levitz (now being restructured), Sears Home Life, Pier 1 Imports, Havertys, Rooms to Go, Value City, IKEA, Art Van and Rhodes; the main gallery stores are Ethan Allen Home Interiors, La-Z-Boy, Drexel Heritage end Thomasville Home Furnishings Stores. The largest furniture markets by metropolitan area are New York, LosAngeles, Chicago Boston, Philadelphia and Washington. The state with largest furniture sales is California, followed by New York, Texas, Florida and Illinois. The US household furniture market will remain highly important for the world furniture industry because of its large size and its dynamism. Prospects for European and Asian manufacturers exporting to the US are good, both for upholstery and for wood furniture. This report is part of the World Furniture Industry series. It deals with the furniture sector in the United States and Canada The research work and the preparation of the report were carried out by CSIL with the cooperation of AKTRIN Research Institute (High Point, NC, USA and Oakville, ON, Canada). The report will be available in October 1997. Price: US$ 950 - Pages 230. For more information see more AKTRIN information on this site e-mail aktrin@aktrin.com