NeoCon & Design Days Recap 2025

The Stump team made our annual trip to Chicago for NeoCon and Design Days, the country’s leading commercial furniture exhibit. The weather was perfect – sunny and cool – and helping bring to life the Fulton Market area, which is quickly gaining critical mass with exhibitors, restaurants, hotels, and various retailers. We enjoyed dinner and drinks right there on the street.

The Mart was also full and vibrant - despite most of the majors exiting Fulton Market. Haworth remains the anchor for the 3rd floor and there was high energy and attendance on floors 3,7,10 & 11.

We heard frequently about the need for better coordination between these two venues to accommodate visitors – almost all of whom will have an interest in both areas - such as improved / more frequent transportation and signage.

Key Topics

AI

Most companies are exploring how to use AI in day-to-day operations (see our AI generated picture!). Forward thinking companies are going further than basic ChatGPT queries and are hiring groups from around the world to engage in deep analysis and data mining. We are still early in this arena, and it will be fascinating to see how AI changes the industry and world.

Tariffs

Tariffs remain top of mind and the hope is for clarity soon, perhaps by the end of the 90-day timeframe, set for July 9. As of the time of this writing there have been preliminary announcements on a deal with China. The sooner this is settled the better.

Quote of the Market #1: “Can we please get some clarity on tariffs so we can get back to business?” opined one CEO. This was a consistent refrain.

Distress

Distress is abundant throughout the broader furnishings industry. We expect to see a continuing exit of struggling companies via liquidation and distressed acquisitions. This trend, plus the aging baby boomers wanting to exit and retire, should result in a pick up of M&A activity as trade issues are settled.

Quote of the Market #2: “Buy when others are selling,” opined one prospective buyer, paraphrasing Warren Buffet’s famous quote.

Transaction Update

Stump & Company has been busy despite this choppy economy. We closed a transaction last week (not announced publicly, yet!) and expect to finalize several more in the coming weeks. Most of these were healthy businesses, trading at attractive multiples. We continue to see interest from Buyers in the luxury residential sector and commercial end-markets such as office, education, and healthcare/senior living, as well as A&D-driven businesses across all verticals.

Call us and let’s start the conversation!