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Thread: Looks like this Fall is going to be a bust

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Default Looks like this Fall is going to be a bust

    It feels like 09/11 again. There are very few people calling or coming in the stores. Retail furniture stores look like ghost towns. I'm getting calls from suppliers begging for orders. Trucking companies are making fewer runs, tell me they don't have full loads. Classic signs of a marked slowdown in the furniture industry which began right after Labor Day. This is High Season, and no one is shopping. Folks are spooked, and if it continues like this there are going to be a whole lot of failures in stores and suppliers in the next few months, as many were just treading water already. I've not seen this slow a Fall season since 2001.

    Its to be expected, I'm sure. You can't go 15 minutes without reading about some implosion on the financial markets. Right now its hitting Wall Street, but in 90 days if something doesn't break the cycle it will be hitting Main Street with a vengeance.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  2. #2
    nappyhairbigteethconsumer Guest

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    I hear ya. I bought new furniture this month, but I'm feeling much more cautious than I was just a few weeks ago about large purchases due to my lack of confidence in the economy and our government. Now I feel like holding onto my money because the future seems too uncertain.

    nappy

  3. #3
    envirochick Guest

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    I know there's truth in what you say, but my town must either be behind everyone else, filled with fools, or exempt from the economic slowdown. My local high end furniture stores are still as independent as ever with their pricing. While I'm cautious, I have a house full of furniture to buy and no one's begging for my cash.

  4. #4
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    To be honest, the worst thing a furniture store can do in lean times is slash prices. That erodes margins and means they make no money....a sure fire way to go out of business.

    What I am doing now is beating on suppliers for deals. If they lower the cost to me, then I can pass that savings along. However not too many suppliers are looking to drop prices to move product, either. Same story. Low margins mean no profit and eventual failure. None of the cores have changed, which means the cost of raw material or labor. If anything, be glad that prices are not going up from cost of those raw materials!

    I am going to wean out slow suppliers from my store and dedicate the space to proven performers, that's my plan. Flexsteel goes out - Bradington Young is on shaky ground (their customer service makes me nuts), and Southwood furniture I'll replace as soon as I can find a good premium upholstery maker.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  5. #5
    McCall Guest

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    When you say B&Y is on shaky ground, do you mean just with you? or in general? I am sad to hear it either way.

  6. #6
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    That means B-Y is on shaky ground as a viable brand in my store. Every customer service issue with them is a fight it seems, and their favorite word is "NO". Hancock and Moore by comparison is far easier to work with to resolve problems and issues on behalf of the customer.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  7. #7
    McCall Guest

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    Well then I will hope to not have any problems with me recently bought chair.

  8. #8
    envirochick Guest

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    Duane:

    As your talking about taking a hard look at your suppliers, I had asked your opinion of McKinley Leather Furniture in another post. I don't think you saw the question. Have you any experience with that handcrafted leather furniture brand? Based on the spreadsheet you posted for the H&M Town and Country program, the pricing I see (as a consumer) is very similar. My untrained eye and humble posterior likes the looks and sit of that furniture better than BY overall. Actually, I'm still looking at them for my next purchase, right along with H&M.

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    Sorry, no experience with that company.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  10. #10
    Sarah Guest

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    Yeah, the slowdown is affecting my business too (and hence affects the purchasing decisions that I make). I am a high-end custom photographer who usually has a 2-month waiting list for sessions. My phone is not ringing nearly as frequently these days.

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