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Wal-Mart ranks No. 1 in furniture

Discount giant scores 14.3% sales gain to displace Rooms To Go

By Carole Sloan -- Furniture Today, August 24, 2003

New York — The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, has now become the top furniture sales leader, with 2002 sales of $1.24 billion in furniture and bedding, an increase of 14.3% over 2001.

Wal-Mart becomes the first non-conventional furniture retailer to head the Furniture/Today ranking since Sears held the No. 1 spot in 1993.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart edged out Rooms To Go, the former No. 1 whose sales increase for 2002 was 3.2% for a total of $1.24 billion.

Wal-Mart's sales figures do not include its Sam's Club warehouse membership club division, which ranks No. 7 on the Top 25 list. Wal-Mart's strong results were partly due to an addition of 113 stores as well as an increased presence for furniture and bedding in its stores and on its Web site.

As a group, the Top 25 furniture retailers gained 4.2% last year to $17.96 billion, up from $17.23 billion in 2001. The increase matches the growth of overall furniture and bedding sales, which totaled $66.69 billion in 2002, a gain of 4.2% from $64.0 billion in 2001.

The 2002 ranking marks the arrival of closeout retailer Big Lots onto the Top 25. The No. 24-ranked Columbus, Ohio, chain posted 2002 sales of $440 million, a dramatic 25.7% jump over 2001's $350 million. Big Lots captured a 2% share of the Top 25 revenues or 0.7% of the total retail furniture market.

Two other channels, neither of which are conventional furniture retailers, achieved the next highest gains among the Top 25. The home improvement warehouse channel, represented solely by No. 23-ranked Lowe's, achieved a 20.8% gain, with $465 million.

With a percentage gain of 6.7%, the warehouse membership clubs on the Top 25 — Sam's Clubs and Costco — had combined revenues of $1.6 billion, up from $1.5 billion in 2001. Sam's remained in seventh place in the rankings, while Costco moved up a slot to No. 10.

Discount department stores gained 3.1% to $1.83 billion, propelled by the Wal-Mart increase, which offset the significant Kmart decline of 14.6% to $585 million. The Troy, Mich.-based Kmart, emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, had 285 fewer stores at year-end. Kmart dropped from No. 10 in 2001 to No. 17 in 2002 among the Top 25.

Overall, non-furniture store channels in furniture and bedding sales accounted for 12 slots in the Top 25 for 2002.

Full-line furniture stores, with combined sales of $7.19 billion, outpaced the increases recorded by manufacturers' gallery stores. The full-line furniture retailers recorded a 4.6% increase over 2001's $6.87 billion.

Among the full-line furniture stores, Pier One moved up in the rankings to No. 15 from No. 17 in 2001 with the highest percentage sales increase among furniture stores — 10.2%. The Fort Worth, Texas-based retailer had 2002 sales of $641.5 million.

Among full-line furniture stores, all but one of the 10 retailers on the Top 25 had sales gains for 2002 compared with 2001. The only drop was experienced by Art Van of Warren, Mich., which saw sales decline 2.6%.

Among the manufacturers' gallery stores, La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries led the three-player channel with an 8.5% increase to $896 million. The company also moved up in the rankings from No. 6 to No. 5. Holding on to its No. 3 ranking was Ethan Allen with a loss of 0.1% for a total of $1.01 billion in furniture and bedding sales for 2002. Thomasville Home Furnishings Stores, holding onto the No. 22 slot, showed an increase of 2.1% to $485 million.

Department stores as a channel slipped one percentage point to capture an 11% share of the Top 25, while Lowe's as the sole Top 25 home improvement warehouse moved up to capture 3% of the Top 25's share, compared with 2% in 2001.

Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores retained its No. 8 slot in the Top 25 with a 5.5% sales increase to $843 million, making it the leader in the department store channel. JCPenney, Plano, Texas, held onto its No. 16 position with 2002 sales of $588 million, down 6.7%, which was caused by a major drop in catalog sales and the closing of unprofitable stores. May Department Stores moved up a slot to No. 18, with a 3.8% sales increase to $550 million.

No longer on the Top 25 is Breuners Home Furnishings of Lancaster, Pa., which ranked No. 25 in 2001.

While the entire Top 25 group had an aggregate sales increase of 4.2%, the Top 5 showed the most substantial growth with an increase of 6.1% to $5.33 billion in 2002.

The Top 15 had the second-largest increase, 5.2%, for a total of $12.84 billion. The Top 10 had sales increases of 5.1% for a total of $9.47 billion. The smallest sales increase was generated by the Top 20, which rose 3.5% for a total of $15.68 billion.

Top 25 U.S. furniture retailers
Rank			Estimated furniture and bedding sales in $ millions		Percent change	Total number of units
2002	2001	Company, home base, notes	2002	2001	2001 to 2002	2002	2001
NR = Not ranked R = Revised All sales information, except for that supplied by publicly held companies which break out furniture and bedding sales, are Furniture/Today market research estimates. All data are for calendar 2002 and 2001, unless otherwise noted. Source: Furniture/Today market research
1	2	Wal-Mart, Bentonville, Ark.	$1,240.0	$1,085.0	14.3%	2,826	2,713
Fiscal year ended Jan. 31. Sales and store counts are for U.S. stores only, including discount and supercenter stores and exclude neighborhood markets and Sam's Club locations. Made major thrust into leather with sofas, recliners and rockers. Also sells furniture via its Web site. Includes outdoor furniture sales of $335 million in 2002 and $310 million in 2001. In 2002, 43 discount stores and 192 supercenters were opened, including 122 discount store conversions. Comp-store sales for the year were up 5.7%. Total 2002 sales were $157.1 billion, up 12.9% from $139.1 billion in 2001. Ranks No. 1 among discount department stores in furniture and bedding sales. (see page 30 for details).
2	1	Rooms To Go, Seffner, Fla.	$1,235.0	$1,197.0	3.2%	95	90
Operates throughout Florida and in Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Texas and has a franchise operation in Puerto Rico. Operations included 68 regular-format stores, 18 Rooms To Go Kids stores and nine clearance centers at year-end. In August 2002, Rooms To Go and investment firm Sun Capital Partners of Boca Raton, Fla., acquired Wickes Furniture. Through 2004, RTG will open seven to eight units in Miami and other Florida markets. Will also enter a new state — Alabama — with a store opening in Birmingham in mid-2004. Plans to open its first bedding specialty stores — Rooms To Go Beds — in the fourth quarter in Florida. Including decorative accessories, sales for 2002 totaled $1.3 billion.
3	3	Ethan Allen, Danbury, Conn.	$1,006.0	$1,007.0	-0.1%	284	285
Fiscal year ended June 30. Sales are for the trailing 12 months ended Dec. 31. Includes sales from 111 company-owned and 173 dealer-owned stores in the United States. Sales and store counts for U.S. stores only. This June, the manufacturer and retailer introduced its dealers to the company's new store design — twice the size as most of its current stores — at its Alpharetta, Ga., location. It also introduced a new line of casual country case goods, upholstery and accents and a new Ethan Allen Kids collection. Plans to open two free-standing Ethan Allen Kids stores by the end of 2003. Total 2002 revenues, $1.2 billion; decorative accessory sales, about $156 million.
4	5	Levitz Home Furnishings, Woodbury, N.Y.	$950.0	$906.0^R	4.9%	128	110
Fiscal year end March 31. Majority owned by certain funds and accounts managed by Resurgence Asset Management. Included 73 Levitz stores and 55 Seaman's stores, including 11 Seaman's Kids units at fiscal year-end. In 2002, opened a net 18 stores in California, Philadelphia, Washington and Arizona, primarily through the acquisition of former HomeLife Furniture leases. Seaman's opened two Kids stores last year. This year, has opened a Levitz in the Las Vegas area in Henderson and a Levitz in Yonkers, N.Y. Total 2002 revenues, $1 billion; decorative accessory sales, about $15 million.
5	6	La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries, Monroe, Mich.	$896.0	$825.5	8.5%	295	287
Network of independently owned, free-standing units with 10 Showcase Shoppes and 285 Furniture Galleries (32 using the new-generation format) in the United States at year-end. Sales and store counts for U.S. stores only. Of the 18 stores opened in 2002, 17 were the new-generation stores. The new-generation stores — introduced in 2001 as the "Store of Tomorrow" — offer an expanded selection of home accents as well as additional accent furniture from Hammary. Plans to end 2003 with 305 stores. Total 2002 revenues, $985.3 million; decorative accessory sales, about $24 million.
6	4	Office Depot, Delray Beach, Fla.	$868.0	$905.0	-4.1%	837	824
Fiscal year ended Dec. 28. Sales and store count are for U.S. locations only, including units in 44 states and the District of Columbia. Also sells through the Office Depot and Viking Office catalogs, as well as its Web site. Office furniture comprised 8.9% of worldwide 2002 sales, down from 9.5% in 2001. The furniture decline reflected lower volume and unit prices, as many customers deferred large purchases due to economic uncertainty. In 2002, opened 21 new units in the United States and Canada, closed 13 and relocated eight. In an effort to boost North American sales, unveiled its Millennium prototype format that places related products adjacent to each other, as well as displays new signs and aisle markers, in Marietta, Ga., in June. Plans to remodel at least 25 more units to this format by year-end. Total 2002 sales were $11.4 billion, up 2.5% from $11.1 billion in 2001.
7	7	Sam's Club, Bentonville, Ark.	$850.0	$825.0	3.0%	525	500
Fiscal year ended Jan. 31. Division of publicly traded Wal-Mart. Sales and store counts for Sam's Club division only. Operated clubs in 48 U.S. states last year. Opened 25 new units last year. Plans to open 15 more units this year. Clubs range between 90,000 total square feet and 160,000 square feet and average 125,000 square feet. Hardlines, including furniture and bedding, accounted for 19% of 2002 total sales, down from 20% in 2001.Comp-store sales increased 2.3% last year. Total 2002 sales reached $31.7 billion, an increase of 7.8% from 2001's $29.4 billion.
8	8	Federated Department Stores, Cincinnati	$843.0	$799.4	5.5%	456	458
Fiscal year ended Feb. 1. At fiscal year-end, operated 394 department stores and 61 furniture galleries in 34 states, Puerto Rico and Guam. Free-standing furniture galleries are the major growth thrust for the company as well as mattress departments in full-line stores without furniture departments. Began its rebranding effort this year as it integrated its Rich's and Macy's stores in the metro Atlanta area and began to operate all other Rich's stores under the Rich's-Macy's nameplate in January. Effective Feb. 1, all Burdines units operate as Burdines-Macy's. And, effective Aug. 1, all 42 Lazarus locations operate as Lazarus-Macy's; five Goldsmith's stores in Tennessee operate as Goldsmith's-Macy's; and all The Bon Marche units operate as The Bon-Macy's. Federated's six department store divisions are ranked among the top 15 department stores (see page 29 for details). Comp-store sales decreased 3.0% compared with 2001. Total 2002 sales were $15.44 billion, down 1.4% from $15.65 billion in 2001.
9	9	Berkshire Hathaway furniture division, Omaha, Neb.	$836.0	$792.0	5.6%	27	27
Owns Nebraska Furniture Mart of Omaha, Neb., including the Homemakers Furniture stores in Des Moines and Urbandale, Iowa; R.C. Willey of Salt Lake City; Star Furniture of Houston; and Jordan's Furniture of Avon, Mass. In April, Star Furniture opened a 100,000-square-foot store outside of Houston, in Sugar Land, Texas. In May, R.C. Willey opened a new store in the Las Vegas suburb of Summerlin. Jordan's is scheduled to break ground on a new store location in Reading, Mass., this year. This month, Nebraska Furniture opened its second store, a 450,000-square-foot unit in Kansas City with an attached 262,000-square-foot warehouse. Total 2002 revenues, $1.4 billion; decorative accessory sales, about $42 million.
10	11	Costco, Issaquah, Wash.	$750.0	$675.0	11.1%	304	284
Fiscal year ended Sept. 1. Sales and store counts are for U.S. locations only, for the trailing 12 months ended Feb. 17. Opened its first home furnishings prototype store in Kirkland, Wash., in December and is currently exploring other sites on the West Coast. The 102,000-square-foot Costco Home features a broad selection of price points in room vignettes. Plans to open 24 new clubs in fiscal 2003 and will focus on existing markets. For the fiscal year ended Sept. 1, comp-store sales were up 6%. Hardlines for fiscal 2002 accounted for 19% of total sales, the same as in 2001 and down from 20% in 2000. Total 2002 trailing 12-month sales were $39.4 billion, up 9.5% from $35.9 billion in 2001.
11	12	Staples, Framingham, Mass.	$702.0	$670.0	4.8%	1,088	1,066
Fiscal year ended Feb. 1. Sales and store counts are for U.S. units only, including units in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Also sells through its Web site and direct-mail catalog business, Quill Corp. Operates 31 distribution centers in the United States. Office furniture comprised 6.9% of 2002 worldwide sales, down from 7.1% in 2001. Opened 72 new stores in North America last year and plans to open between 75 and 90 stores this year, all in the "Dover" format. At fiscal year-end, 263 units employed the "Dover" format, with 20,000 square feet compared to the previous 24,000-square-foot store. Select urban markets have "Staples Express" stores, ranging from 6,000 to 10,000 square feet. Debuted its "Staples, that was easy" ad campaign in March in an effort to differentiate it from competitors. Total 2002 sales were $11.6 billion, up 7.9% from $10.7 billion in 2001.
12	13	Havertys, Atlanta	$683.0	$658.0	3.8%	111	103
Fiscal year ended Dec. 31. Operated 111 stores in 72 cities in 14 southern and central states at year-end. In 2002, opened 11 stores, nine of which were former HomeLife stores and one former Roberds location. Seven of the stores opened were in four new markets — Clearwater, Daytona Beach and Orlando, Fla., and Washington, D.C. Plans to open a total of four stores this year, including entry into the new markets of San Antonio; West Palm Beach, Fla.; and Bowie, Md. — also a new state. Total 2002 revenues, $713 million; decorative accessory sales, about $21 million.
13	14	Value City Furniture, Columbus, Ohio	$674.0	$650.0	3.7%	80	76
Owned by Schottenstein Stores Corp. Fiscal year ended Aug. 3. In June 2002, opened a 50,000-square-foot American Signature Furniture store in the Nashville, Tenn., suburb of Franklin. The new format takes a more upscale approach to display and features the retailer's exclusive American Signature line, with prices starting at the high end of Value City's spectrum and moving up from there. Value City currently has about 14 Signature stores in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Tennessee and Virginia. Including decorative accessories, sales for 2002 totaled $700 million.
14	15	Ikea, Plymouth Meeting, Pa.	$670.0	$634.3	5.6%	15	15
Fiscal year ended Aug. 31. Sweden-based specialist with a large ready-to-assemble business. At fiscal year-end, operated 15 stores in the United States and nine in Canada. Beginning in fiscal 2003, Ikea launched its plan to open a net 50 new stores in 10 years in North America. New stores are significantly larger than in the past and emphasize coordination among all home lines in vignettes and room settings through the store. By the end of August 2003, Ikea will have nine new stores or relocations, including three in Canada. Included in the relocations is the new 325,000-square-foot U.S. flagship store in the Philadelphia suburb of Conshohocken, Pa., which opened January 2003, replacing the Plymouth Meeting store. Total 2002 revenues, $1.35 billion; decorative accessory sales, about $203 million.
15	17	Pier 1 Imports, Fort Worth, Texas	$641.5	$582.1^R	10.2%	972	909
Fiscal year ended March 1. Publicly held specialist in imported midpriced home furnishings and related merchandise. Ended the year with 1,074 stores in total — 965 units in the United States — including 25 Cargokids, and seven in Puerto Rico. Sales and store counts for U.S. stores only, including Puerto Rico. Includes sales of about $12 million in 2002 for Cargokids. In 2002, began rolling out 18,000- to 20,000-square-foot, larger-format stores in Dallas; St. Louis; South Hampton, N.Y.; Denver; Houston; Anchorage, Alaska; and Honolulu. Cargokids opened eight stores last year, including its first stores in North Carolina — in the Charlotte area. This year plans call for 110 to 115 new Pier 1 units. Also plans to have 47 Cargokids stores at fiscal year-end, including its first stores in Florida. Total 2002 revenues, $1.6 billion; decorative accessory sales, about $597 million.
16	16	JCPenney, Plano, Texas	$588.0	$630.0	-6.7%	1,049	1,075
Fiscal year ended Jan. 25. Ranks No. 1 among the top department stores for furniture and bedding (see page 29 for details). Opened three units last year and closed 34. Operates 34 free-standing home stores. Sales per gross square foot were $140 in 2002, up from $133 in 2001. Comp-stores sales increased 2.6% over 2001. Will open three off-the-mall locations in Dallas, Indianapolis and Minneapolis in November as a test. Department store sales of $15.1 billion increased 1.9%, and catalog sales decreased by 22% to $2.6 billion. Internet sales (included in the catalog figures) were up 17.8% to $381 million. Total 2002 sales were $17.7 billion, down 2.5% from $18.2 billion in 2001.
17	10	Kmart, Troy, Mich.	$585.0	$685.0	-14.6%	1,829	2,114
Fiscal year ended Jan. 29. Sales and store counts are for U.S. locations only. Includes outdoor furniture sales of $215 million in 2002 and $250 million in 2001. Emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 6. Filed for Chapter 11 on Jan. 22, 2002. Closed 283 stores last year (270 discount stores and 12 supercenters) and plans to close another 316 this year. Sales per square foot were $212, down from $235 the prior year. Total 2002 sales were $30.8 billion, down 14.9% from $36.2 billion in 2001. Ranks No. 2 among discount department stores in furniture and bedding sales (see page 30 for details).
18	19	May Department Stores, St. Louis, Mo.	$550.0	$530.0	3.8%	358	355
Fiscal year ended Feb. 1. May's home store offerings reflect three design statements — modern, elegant and casual. In 2002, opened eight department stores, including three new "lifestyle-design" stores. These compact 140,000-square-foot stores can be opened in smaller retail communities while offering much of the same assortments of the bigger units. The new store format features an open contemporary design, with flexible merchandise presentations. Last August, May combined its Kaufmann's division with the Filene's division and its Meier & Frank division with the Robinsons-May division. Also owns David's Bridal, After Hours Formalwear, Priscilla of Boston, Lord & Taylor, and most recently, Modern Tuxedo — all bridal or formalwear apparel retailers.
19	18	Art Van, Warren, Mich.	$549.0	$563.5	-2.6%	29	28
Family-owned Michigan chain. Converted the former Scott Shuptrine store in Petoskey to an Art Van unit last fall. Built a new 75,000-square-foot store in Port Huron, replacing a 45,000-square-foot unit and remodeled the Grand Rapids store, adding 12,000 square feet to the 70,000-square-foot store last year. In 2003, will complete the remodel of the Southfield store in metro Detroit. The store will be more than double its original size at 70,000 square feet and will include a clearance center. Will open a 75,000-square-foot showroom in Chesterfield Township in metro Detroit — the retailer's 30th store. Including decorative accessories, sales for 2002 totaled $560 million.
20	21	Rhodes, Atlanta	$544.0	$513.8^R	5.9%	92	88
Fiscal year ended Feb. 28. Operates in 13 Southern and Midwestern states. Rhodes opened four new John M. Smyth's Homemakers in Chicago last year. This year, Rhodes expects to open one new store in Chicago as Homemakers, bringing the total number of Homemakers in the Chicago area to eight. Total 2002 revenues, $591 million; decorative accessory sales, about $17 million.
21	20	OfficeMax, Shaker Heights, Ohio	$495.0	$505.0	-2.0%	938	935
Fiscal year ended Jan. 25. Sales and store counts are for U.S. locations only, including units in 49 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Boise Cascade Corp. announced in July its agreement to acquire OfficeMax. Office furniture accounted for 10.4% of worldwide 2002 sales, down from 11.0% in 2001. Debuted its newest store format last year with a 15% smaller footprint at 20,000 square feet, improved lighting and signage and introduced product "worlds," including FurnitureMax. Also completed its fixture height reduction program last year, eliminating top-stock. Also operates a small number of OfficeMax PDQ (Pretty Darn Quick) stores, ranging in size from 4,000 to 7,000 square feet. Plans to open five new superstores this year and remodel 250 stores to the new smaller format. Total 2002 sales were 44.8 billion, up 3.2% from $4.6 billion in 2001.
22	22	Thomasville Home Furnishings Stores, Thomasville, N.C.	$485.0	$475.0	2.1%	144	130
Network of independently owned and company owned, midpriced to high-end, free-standing gallery stores in or near major metropolitan areas. Sales and store counts for U.S. stores only. In 2002, netted 14 new stores, including its first three company-owned stores in the San Francisco Bay area. The company is in the process of changing its definition of Thomasville stores vs. galleries. About 20 new Thomasville stores are planned for 2003, including at least one more company-owned store in the Bay area. Expects to have 250 U.S. stores by the end of 2006.
23	23	Lowe's, Wilkesboro, N.C.	$465.0	$385.0	20.8%	854	744
Fiscal year ended Jan. 31. Includes outdoor furniture sales of $220 million in 2002 and $181 million in 2001 with tightly focused furniture selection primarily in dining and home office. Opened 112 new stores, relocated 11 and closed 13 last year. Expects to open 130 new stores this year, 21 of which opened during the first quarter. About two-thirds of the new stores will be in large metropolitan areas. Stores average 111,000 square feet. Opened its first small prototype store, 94,000 square feet, in Elkin, N.C. in April. Comp-store sales increased 6% for 2002. Total 2002 sales were $26.5 billion, up 19.8% from $22.1 billion in 2001.
24	NR	Big Lots, Columbus, Ohio	$440.0	$350.0	25.7%	1,380	1,335
Fiscal year ended Feb. 1. At fiscal year end, sold furniture and bedding through 49 free-standing furniture stores and 687 furniture departments within full-line stores. Furniture is merchandised in free-standing furniture stores adjacent to main stores and in expanded furniture departments within the full-line stores. Company turnaround program plan — to be a national retailer with national marketing — propelled sales. Opened 87 new stores in 2002 and closed 42. Plans this year include opening 90 new stores, adding 145 furniture departments to new and existing stores and remodeling more than 200 stores in eastern U.S. markets. Experienced strong 2002 gains in domestics, furniture, hardlines, consumables, toys and home decor. Comp-store sales in 2002 were up 7.7%. Total 2002 sales were $3.9 billion, up 12.7% from $3.4 billion in 2001.
25	24	W.S. Badcock, Mulberry, Fla.	$410.0	$379.0	8.2%	336	338
Southeastern chain of both company-owned and dealer-owned stores, operating primarily as Badcock Home Furnishings Centers but changing to the Badcock Home Furniture & more format. Continues to convert its older stores to its new prototype. By 2007, the retailer hopes to have converted 80% of its stores. The retailer's goal of opening more than 60 new stores within five years is on track. This past fall, announced plans to move into Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and eastern North Carolina — markets where Heilig-Meyers was once strong. Total 2002 revenues, $544 million; decorative accessory sales, about $17 million.

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