WASHINGTON — Furniture and home furnishings retail was slightly ahead of the national average in March according to the Department of Commerce’s advance monthly estimates of retail sales.
For the month, furniture and home furnishings stores posted sales figures of $12.861 billion, up 0.7% from February’s $12.776 billion. The month’s figures were up 3.6% compared with March 2021’s $12.414 billion.
In the three months encompassing January through March, furniture and home furnishings retail sales were up 4.3% from October through December 2021 and up 5.8% compared with January to March 2021.
The overall retail picture showed modest growth, as the entire sector’s sales reached $665.726 billion, up 0.5% from February’s $662.417 billion. Growth is up 6.9% vs. the $622.897 billion recorded a year ago.
While furniture and home furnishings’ growth was largely in line with the national figure, several categories outperformed the rate. Gas stations (8.9%) led the way, likely fueled by surging prices at the pump. General merchandise (5.4%), sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and book stores and electronics stores (both 3.3%), and clothing and clothing accessories stores (2.6%) were among the big gainers.
Non-store retailers (down 6.4%) and motor vehicle and parts dealers (down 1.9%) were among categories that showed significant dips in sales.
The DOC’s advance estimates are based on a sub-sample of the U.S. Census Bureau’s full retail and food services sample. A stratified random sampling method is used to select approximately 5,500 retail and food services firms whose sales are then weighted and benchmarked to represent the complete universe of more than 3 million retail and food services firms.
Thomas Lester is Retail Editor for Furniture Today and Digital/Managing Editor for Home Accents Today. A graduate of Emory & Henry College's Mass Communications program, Lester spent a dozen years working for newspapers in Virginia and North Carolina covering an array of subjects, ranging from community news, government, education, ACC sports, professional baseball and more before joining Furniture Today in 2013. Reach out to me with your story ideas, tips and more at tlester@furnituretoday.com.
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April 14, 2022 at 08:05PM
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DOC: Retail's growth slow in March; furniture sales run apace - Furniture Today
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