Furniture factory orders jump 12% in April
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, July 9, 2007
High Point — U.S. residential furniture factory orders jumped 12% in April compared with the same month a year ago, but the gain probably owes more to the timing of the High Point Market than the health of the industry, according to Smith Leonard.
In 2006, April orders were down 13% from the previous year, said Ken Smith, managing partner of the accounting and consulting firm based here.
"We believe these swings were caused by the High Point Market dates," Smith wrote in his monthly Furniture Insights newsletter. He noted the spring market in 2006 took place April 27 to May 3, but that this year it was a month earlier, March 26 to April 1.
"It appears that April 2006 market orders were captured in May 2006, while April 2007 market orders were captured in April," said Smith. If that's the case, Smith Leonard's factory survey probably will show an order decline in May, he said.
Factory shipments, meanwhile, were down 4% in April compared with April 2006.
For the year through April, orders were down 3% from the previous year's pace and shipments were down 7%, the firm said.
"Most of the industry people we talk to are not seeing much improvement in current business," said Smith. "There are pockets of decent business, but we do not hear much good out of retailers in general."
He added that despite the continued downturn in housing activity, and a decline in consumer confidence last month, the industry continues to sell a good deal of furniture.
"The key is having the right products and customers both at retail and wholesale," said Smith. "Hopefully some of the products that were brought at the High Point Market will begin to ship and create new opportunities for customers."
| Factory orders, shipments in April | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| In billions of dollars | |||
| Change from | |||
| March '07 | April '06 | ||
| Source: Smith Leonard | |||
| Orders | $2.161 | -9% | 12% |
| Shipments | 2.076 | -12% | -4% |
| Order backlog | 1.744 | 3% | 1% |
| January–April change from 2006 | |||
| Orders | $8.510 | -3% | |
| Shipments | 8.292 | -7% | |
