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1 week ago | 
businessofhome.com | Warren Shoulberg
In what will probably be the last financial quarter before the full effects of the Trump tariffs start to hit top and bottom lines, several big public furniture retailers are reporting results that show modest improvements. While nothing to cheer wildly about, they do show the home business could be getting better … or at least was heading in that direction until the tariffs hit the fan.
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2 weeks ago | 
businessofhome.com | Warren Shoulberg
This spring’s High Point Market is in the books, yet the aftershocks of what went on will reverberate throughout the furniture and home furnishings sector for months, seasons and most likely years to come.
Of course, it was all about tariffs. You couldn’t swing a dead credenza without hitting the topic: It immediately came up in every showroom meeting or chance encounter, and it spilled into the hallways and sidewalks of the Market complex.
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2 weeks ago | 
therobinreport.com | Warren Shoulberg
You really can’t argue with Joe Feldman, an analyst at Telsey Advisory Group: “We are spending a lot of time on something that continues to change and is rapidly changing. It’s not even worth trying.” Ever-changing, ever-chaotic, ever-devastating, the Trump Tariff Tsunami represents the biggest challenge American businesses have had to deal with certainly since the pandemic but probably stretching back even further to at least the 2008-2009 Great Recession … and maybe longer.
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3 weeks ago | 
businessofhome.com | Warren Shoulberg
Although some breathed a (small) sigh of relief when Trump put a 90-day pause on his non-China tariff policies, the make-or-break moment will not be three months from now, but in the next three weeks. That’s because we’re entering the critical phase when retail orders for the holiday season must be finalized and processed. This is when companies hit the “buy” button.
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4 weeks ago | 
businessofhome.com | Warren Shoulberg
Less than two months from the opening of its first store, Perigold is coming down the home stretch in developing a physical representation of its online shopping experience. The debut location is set to open in Houston in June; that will be followed by a second outpost in West Palm Beach, slated to open this fall.
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4 weeks ago | 
giftsanddec.com | Warren Shoulberg
The old saying about “everything that’s old is new again” is going to have to be updated. I’m thinking maybe “everything that’s old is good again.”While the average consumer loves new stuff, increasingly they have more interest in what’s old too. I’m not talking used, second-hand, gently repurposed or any of the other euphemisms floating around there these days. This is about vintage and the ever-growing number of retailers that are mixing in some of this merchandise into their assortments.
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1 month ago | 
businessofhome.com | Warren Shoulberg
This is a rotten week to be in the furniture business. And coming just two weeks before the industry gets together in High Point, North Carolina, for Spring Market, the timing could not have been worse.
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1 month ago | 
therobinreport.com | Warren Shoulberg
It was supposed to be about toasters and towels. But instead, it was all about just one thing: U.S. import tariffs. At two recent major national trade shows for the $60 billion housewares and $30 billion home textiles industries, the activities are typically about the buying and selling of home products that are destined for retail stores and websites later in the year.
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1 month ago | 
businessofhome.com | Warren Shoulberg
With the passing of George Foreman last week, it’s an appropriate moment to reflect on the role branding plays in home products—and how sometimes the most outrageous choice turns out to be a winner, while far more obvious marketing partnerships fall flat.
George Foreman is known to sports fans as a two-time heavyweight world champion with a vicious knockout punch who took on some of the best boxers of his generation, including Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
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1 month ago | 
hometextilestoday.com | Warren Shoulberg
If any store is in retail purgatory it has to be the Macy’s Union Square location in San Francisco. Once a brand flagship, it is now scheduled to be shut – but without an actual closing date. We figured we’d pay a visit before the end to see just how far a once-mighty store had fallen. The GoodWith windows facing the park how nice it is to see natural light inside a store – and with chairs too for shoppers to sit in when they want to take a break. So many downtown stores could do this… but don’t.
