‘It’s a Matter of Survival’
Interest rates, tariffs, and inflation have made this a tough time for furniture stores, especially the smaller ones.
Good morning!
Here are today’s highlights:
Lisa Woodruff figured out that running a home is much like running a business—and that became the basis for her business.
Small businesses are taking President Trump back to court over his latest tariff scheme.
Marcus Sheridan says AI makes it possible to know more than ever about what your competitors are doing.
Led by the biggest leap in gas prices in decades, consumer prices surged in March.
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This really isn’t a good time to own a furniture store (as Jay Goltz has been telling us): “In April, auctioneers sold off a stockpile of ash night stands, walnut-legged couches and leather swivel chairs that had been collecting dust inside a shuttered store and warehouse in Acton, Mass. The stranded goods were the remnants of Circle Furniture, a family business that had offered its wares to the Boston area since President Harry S. Truman was in the White House. Last year, Circle’s sales plummeted 20 percent, and in December the company abruptly closed all nine of its stores, went bankrupt, and began liquidating its assets.”
“America’s furniture stores have been ravaged over the past three years as high mortgage rates and home prices have frozen the housing market. That has left fewer people looking to furnish a new space with thousands of dollars’ worth of dining chairs, vanity desks, and sectionals, and the slump is wreaking havoc on the industry.”
“‘There’s going to be a lot of competition that’s not going to make it through these times,’ Gary Friedman, chief executive of the upscale furniture retailer RH, told investors on a conference call in April. ‘There’s been greater fallout in the furniture business over the last few years than in any time in history.’”
“‘It’s a matter of survival,’ said Stacey Widlitz, president of SW Retail Advisors, a research firm. ‘It’s not just the housing market they have to wrestle with.’ Last year, new tariffs imposed by President Trump added to the pressure. The United States placed 25-percent tariffs on imported furniture and cabinets, with increases scheduled for next year that would raise levies to as much as 50 percent for some products.”
“The nation’s largest furniture retailers have found ways to cope in this environment, reworking their supply chains and repositioning themselves in the market. That has led to a bifurcation in the industry, where big chains battle for market share while smaller players fight to stay open.” READ MORE
THE 21 HATS PODCAST: DASHBOARD
She Built a Business by Learning to Run Her Home: In her thirties, Lisa Woodruff hit a breaking point—overwhelmed, overweight, and depressed, as she puts it. So she made a radical decision: she quit her job as a school teacher and set out to get her own life in order. What started as a personal reset became a business—Organize 365—built around a simple but powerful idea: running a household isn’t all that different from running a company.
In her new book, Escaping Quicksand, Lisa argues that households, like businesses, need systems, delegation, and intentional leadership. But she also makes a point that may resonate with a lot of listeners: for women especially, the stakes—and the expectations—are different. This week, Lisa explains what she’s learned about escaping overwhelm and why treating your home like a business might be the key to getting your life back.
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