US Census Bureau estimates show furniture and home furnishings stores opened 2026 weakly, with January sales of $11.07 billion down 3.5% from $11.47 billion a year earlier and up just 0.7% from December’s $10.99 billion. Total retail sales reached $733.54 billion, up 3.2% year over year from $711.09 billion but down 0.2% from the holiday-lifted December figure.
Only gas stations fared worse than furniture and home furnishings, falling 3.7%. Nonstore retailers and grocery stores led gains, up 10.9% and 10.8% respectively, while building materials, garden equipment and supplies dealers rose 4.3%. The Census Bureau’s preliminary figures come from a stratified sample of about 5,500 retail and food-service firms weighted to represent more than 3 million businesses, so the furniture softness is broad-based rather than a sampling artefact.
Why it matters for the pet industry
Pet furniture, beds, crates and feeding stations are discretionary hard goods that track the home-furnishings cycle, so a 3.5% category decline warns of softer pet hard-goods demand ahead. Pet brands should trim speculative inventory of large items, lean on the stronger grocery and ecommerce channels for consumables, and prepare value messaging, since the weakness mirrors the broad consumer pullback outside essentials.
Pet crate and bed makers should treat the building-materials gain as a leading cue and front-load spring inventory, while leaning on grocery and ecommerce channels for consumables during the soft patch. A disciplined, channel-specific plan protects pet hard-goods margin until home demand turns.
What to watch
- February furniture sales to confirm whether the January dip was seasonal.
- Pet bed and crate sell-through versus the home-furnishings trend.
- Building-materials strength as a leading indicator for pet furniture demand.
FAQ
How much did January furniture sales fall in 2026?
US furniture and home furnishings stores posted January sales of $11.07 billion, down 3.5% from $11.47 billion a year earlier and up just 0.7% from December’s $10.99 billion. Only gas stations performed worse, falling 3.7%, confirming the weakness was broad-based across discretionary hard goods.
What does softer furniture demand mean for pet hard goods?
Pet furniture, beds, crates and feeding stations are discretionary hard goods that track the home-furnishings cycle, so a 3.5% category decline warns of softer pet hard-goods demand ahead. Brands should trim speculative inventory of large items and lean on stronger grocery and ecommerce channels for consumables.
Which channels should pet brands prioritize during the slowdown?
Pet brands should lean on grocery and ecommerce channels for consumables while trimming speculative inventory of large items like crates and beds. Crate and bed makers can treat the 4.3% building-materials gain as a leading cue and front-load spring inventory, protecting pet hard-goods margin until home demand turns.
Source intelligence adapted for the GlobalPetIndex pet-industry audience. Original publication: external brief.
