Fall 2025 High Point Market Recap

Topic of Market

“What is ‘upholstered wood furniture’?” the customs agent asks his client (a furniture importer), trying to better understand the tariff announcement from the White House. The client responds, “the same as an appled-orange!” Clearly, no one knows how to account for, or understand, the precise math of the ever-changing tariff situation. As one CEO told us, “We are playing ‘Whack a Tariff,’ and don’t know what’s coming tomorrow."

The furniture industry is in the crosshairs of a trade war, and President Trump has singled out the Furniture Industry - and North Carolina (and Michigan), in particular - in his use and justification for tariffs on the category. Domestic manufacturers are enjoying a lift in business inquiries while importers are working to quantify the impact on their costs and decide how much to increase prices. Mexican and Canadian manufacturers are still trying to understand if USMCA will apply. And how will the Supreme Court rule on these issues in the coming weeks?

With this as the backdrop, our team – and thousands of furniture manufacturers, retailers, designers, and enthusiasts - descended on High Point and strived to have productive, positive, non-tariff-related conversations. Attendance was solid, and most exhibitors and buyers were upbeat about interest rates coming down and steady business compared to last year. And most retailers bought furniture regardless of the price.

To be sure, new introductions were fewer than usual, with management focused on pricing and determining the optimal source countries for each SKU and category. We particularly enjoyed the Margaritaville launch by Hooker Furnishings and the Coral Reefer band’s performance – well done!

Other Topics:

Distress – plenty of companies are closing or liquidating, choosing to stop the pain, stop losing money, and exiting altogether. Bank restructurings, ABC transactions, and bankruptcies have been common occurrences these past few years, particularly in the promotional segment of the market. There will continue to be some of these, although our sense is most have now occurred and the worst is behind us.

Designers – the high end remains strong and there are more than 100,000 design professionals in the US; vendors are running to capture more of this lucrative and growing channel. Innovative technology is aiding the connectivity between the designer and manufacturer, and some new emerging tech companies are arising to try to streamline this purchasing process further. Equally interesting is the back end/logistics of the purchase – since most designers have small businesses with little to no infrastructure, they must rely on 3rd parties for receiving, storing, and installing their clients’ purchases. Several innovative new companies are working to consolidate this vital commercial service – keep an eye out for this space.

New Materials – we are seeing the introduction of non-wood materials to add structural strength to products and aid in potential tariff workarounds. We think this innovation is particularly important and will lead to more modernization in manufacturing – perhaps with the help of robotics, digital printing, and other technologies.

M&A Update

We continue to be bombarded with calls from both interested Buyers and Sellers. Notable topics include:

• Domestic upholstery is benefitting from tariffs - or at least the perceived risk of tariffs. We have plenty of requests from buyers (both domestic and international) for USA-made upholstery.
• Bigger companies are looking for deals to add capacity or products to their core business segments.
  • We are also seeing larger multi-brand companies thinking about exiting non-core divisions, brands, and/or poorer performing segments.
• Many Buyers – both Strategics and Financial – are now communicating they are looking for bigger deals of healthy, profitable companies with in-place management teams - at stronger valuations than what we’ve been seeing for the last 1-2 years.
• Older owners with no succession plan are anxious to sell and exit for a peaceful retirement (many have commented how stressful the past 5 years have been, and that they do not want to face another 5 years equally as challenging)
• PE-sponsors still have meaningful ownership in the furniture industry; many will sell in the coming months and year(s) ahead; other new sponsors will buy and enter the industry.
  • Expect to see several announcements in this space in the coming months.
• Offshore furniture companies still want to be in the US and will invest to get money out of their home country and into the US.

Quote of Market

So, our quote of “Survive to ‘25, then thrive” unfortunately didn’t come to fruition. The new phrase could be “let’s get rich in ’26”.

Call us and let us know your thoughts. We’re here to help.