What I see for 2023 is this industry is pretty much out of the Covid craziness. Backlogs are shrinking, inventory is up at all the retail stores (my store is fully stocked as of this post) and manufacturers are looking for orders again. The competitiveness is back but the prices are not pre-covid in the least. So far, there have been no prices increases from any supplier for 2023, I think they are very much aware they need to control pricing. Gone are the crazy incentives for new workers (signing bonuses) and costly employee retention plans.

Stores traffic is way down, its very quiet and new orders have slowed. Interest rates? Too much buying during Covid? Prices too high? Disposable income re-directed to other things like vacations?

What do I see coming for the rest of the year?

1) Order completion times of 4 months or less from most suppliers.

2) Sale Periods from the manufacturers. They will run promotions rather than lowering prices as their need for more sales orders increases.

3) A general slowdown in sales on home furnishings.

Just my opinions, no basis in facts!