Az furniture sales plummet more than U.S. average
Arizona furniture sales and employment figures, dragged down by the housing industry, suffered a worse decline than the national average. The cost to bring products to the retailer and expenses for delivering furniture to consumers has risen. And many retailers absorb the extra costs, further lowering their profit margins, he said.
Tough economic times mean cutbacks, but Alderman said retaining a public presence is crucial. “It’s very important for them to continue to advertise,” he said. “The first thought is to cut costs.” “When you cut your costs on advertising and being in front of the customer, that is a double whammy,” Alderman said. “With less exposure, there is less chance of a consumer coming into your store or knowing of a sale you are promoting.”
Furniture sales compete with expanding product markets that include electronics, cable television, cell phone services and others: services and products that earlier weren’t around, he said.
“I think the last time we had this type of a downturn was 17 or 18 years ago. What happens in our industry follows what happens in real estate and home sales. We usually follow about one year behind that. As we see real estate sales level off or increase, we should be about 12 months behind.”
The UA’s Vest said continuing troubles in the housing industry and the lowest consumer confidence level in 25 years mean more bad times for furniture retailers.
“They will follow along with the homebuilding industry,” Vest said. “I think it will be a year from now before we really see homebuilding begin to increase.”
Tags: consumers, cutback, decline, downturn, economic times, fir, furniture, furniture retailer, furniture retailers, furniture sales, irs, presence, profit margins, urn, whRelated posts
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