New furniture orders for January were 8 percent higher than in January 2018, accounting and business consulting firm Smith Leonard PLLC in High Point, N.C., reported March 29.
“The good news for January was that shipments were up 14 percent over January 2018 and some 75 percent of the participants reported increased shipments for the month,” the firm said in a summary of its monthly survey results. “New orders are critical but shipments and subsequent collections pay the bills.”
“The not so good news is that everyone was not participating in these good results. In January, only one-half of the participants reported increased orders for the month. This was up from approximately 45 percent reporting increases last month. There were a good number of participants reporting only slight declines, but clearly these results do not reflect the rising tides that we would hope for.”
In a commentary, partner Ken Smith offered this: “Spring time is coming and so is an early High Point Market. We hope all retailersand designers will come. While business may be not all that great, it is hard to imagine being in the furniture business and not coming to see the latest in the best fashions available anywhere. We hope to see you.”
