BusinessMay 17, 2026
America’s Furniture Industry Is Starting to Come Apart at the Seams
Market Shifts
Rhea Lobo
Discover
The furniture business is getting dismantled piece by piece. With mortgage rates still high and housing turnover slowing, furniture retailers are losing the customers they depend on. The result is a growing wave of bankruptcies hitting both legacy chains and discount players as surviving companies race to stay afloat.
Locked out: eMarketer analyst Zak Stambor says furniture retail has become a “sink-or-swim environment” because “as long as housing turnover is at near record-low levels, there’s just less of a market for furniture and home furnishings.” Fewer Americans are moving, which means fewer sofa and furniture purchases. Rising gas prices and tighter budgets are also pushing shoppers toward cheaper options on apps like Temu and Shein, per Barron’s.
The pressure is no longer limited to US storefronts. China’s furniture industry is also feeling the fallout after exports to the US fell 18% last year as tariffs pushed American buyers toward Vietnam and Mexico. The slowdown dragged growth in Foshan, the country’s furniture manufacturing hub, down to just 0.2% in 2025 compared to China’s 5% national growth rate. Factory owners that once relied on massive Walmart and Home Depot orders are now scrambling to move upmarket or pivot to direct-to-consumer sales online. Foshan’s Nicole Luk notes that the industry is changing “very quickly” and has become “very hard to predict.”
Survival mode: Larger players are adapting while smaller ones disappear. RH and Bob’s Discount Furniture are leaning on scale to manage rising costs, with Bob’s COO Ramesh Murthy saying the company feels confident handling future fuel shocks because of its strong shipping and delivery relationships. That kind of flexibility is becoming a luxury most mid-sized furniture retailers simply cannot afford. With inflation potentially climbing above 4% this year, the industry shakeout is rearranging the furniture business for good.
