Welcome to Furniture Industry News for Wednesday, December 17, 2025.

I'm glad you're here.

As we take a look at what's happening across the furniture industry today, let's begin with a developing story in American Signature's bankruptcy case.

The US Trustee has raised serious objections to two aspects of the retailer's Chapter 11 proceedings.

On December 10, the trustee filed objections in the Delaware Bankruptcy Court, challenging both American Signatures request to assume a consulting agreement with SB360 and and the proposed Stalking Horse asset purchase Agreement along with its bid procedures.

The core issue centers on potential conflicts of interest as the trustee argues that American Signature, SB360 Capital Partners, Second Avenue Capital Partners and ASI Purchaser are all wholly or majority owned by the Schottenstein family.

This creates what the trustee describes as a restructuring and sale process that could disproportionately benefit company insiders.

The trustee is asking the court to apply heightened scrutiny to ensure the process and pricing are fair to the bankruptcy estate.

American Signature and SB360 have pushed back in separate responses filed on December 12th and 13th, arguing that SB360 isn't technically an estate professional and therefore isn't subject to the same disinterestedness rules.

They also point out that the consulting agreement was negotiated before the bankruptcy filing and approved by independent advisors.

As for the bid protections, American Signature maintains their market standard and necessary even when the Stalking Horse bidder is an affiliate.

A hearing on these matters was scheduled for December 15.

Shifting to sales data Furniture's momentum showed signs of slowing in October.

According to the Department of Commerce's latest report, the category totaled an adjusted $11.264 billion in brick and mortar sales, which represents just a half percent increase over October 2024's $11.205 billion.

That's notably softer than the gains we've been seeing in recent months.

The numbers are particularly significant because October 2024 was when the furniture category first started showing year over year growth after roughly 20 months of declines.

This means we're now comparing against increasingly stronger prior year performances, which makes future growth more challenging.

For the year to date, the category has accumulated nearly $112 billion in unadjusted sales, up 3.8% from 2024 levels.

The broader retail picture showed overall sales of $732.63 billion in October, up 3.5% year over year but essentially flat compared to September.

There's encouraging news on the manufacturing front.

The Institute for Supply Management's December 2025 Supply Chain Planning forecast suggests furniture suppliers may see sunnier days ahead in 2026.

More than half of manufacturing respondents expect revenues to be higher in 2026 than in 2025, translating to a projected net revenue increase of 4.4%.

That compares favorably to the 2.5% increase reported for 2025.

Sixteen of 18 manufacturing industries anticipate revenue growth in 2026, and both furniture and related products and wood products are among them, though they rank in the lower half by expected revenue growth.

Manufacturers reported operating at 82.4% of normal capacity, up from 79.2% back in May and slightly above December 2024 levels.

Capital spending is expected to rise as well, with manufacturing capital expenditures forecast to increase 3% in 2026 following a 3.5% increase in 2025.

However, cost pressures aren't going away.

Raw material prices are forecast to rise 5.4% during the first five months of 2026, with a full year increase of 4.4%.

Labor and benefit costs are expected to rise an average of 2.5%.

Continuing to pressure margins Looking at international markets, Italian upholstery manufacturer Natuzzi reported third quarter results that showed virtually flat net sales but easing losses.

Total net sales came in at 74.4 million euros, down less than 1% from 75 million euros in the same period of 2024.

The company posted an operating loss of 1.7 million euros, which is less than half the 3.8 million euro loss from the year ago period.

Net loss for the period was 5.1 million euros, compared with 7.4 million euros in the third quarter of 2024.

Gross margin improved to 36% of revenue.

Chairman and CEO Pasquale Natuzzi acknowledged the ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and macroeconomic headwinds impacting sales and but emphasized the improvement in gross margin, which he attributed mainly to a sales mix with better margins and savings from right.

Sizing Chinese operations by brand, the Natuzzi Italia segment saw third quarter sales of 35.2 million euros, up 18.2% year over year, while Davani and Devani posted sales of 7.6 million euros, up 13.3%.

The Natuzzi Editions segment declined 19.5% to 26 million euros.

Breaking it down by geography, North America performed best with 25.2 million euros in sales, up 4.7%, while Greater China fared worst with sales of 4.9 million euros, down 28.3%.

An interesting trend emerged at this fall's High Point market that speaks to how consumers are using their homes.

Three major case goods suppliers showcased gaming furniture, reflecting how game night has moved from niche activity to mainstream consumer behavior.

Hooker Furnishings debuted a Compass Point game table as part of its Margaritaville licensed collection.

The table is a mahjong table featuring a compass motif and, according to Catherine Bamer, director of merchandising for Occasional and Accents, the product development team worked closely with marketing to dive into data and build products that fit modern lifestyle trends.

They're seeing more residential designs where gaming is at the center of a space.

Four hands introduced a darts cabinet that doubles as a wine bar.

Of the company's continued focus on gaming as a lifestyle category, Director of Marketing Ellie Sanchez noted that their mahjong table flips to become a standard game or breakfast table and the dartboard cabinet looks like a beautiful cabinet where you'd never know it's for gaming.

They even used their brand fonts for the scoring lines.

Luxury supplier Woodbridge also leaned into the gaming category with multiple mahjong tables prominently displayed in its showroom and even hosted a game night for market attendees.

Their Bennett game table, made of hardwood solids and mahogany veneer, is multifunctional and can serve as additional dining space with drawers for storing tiles and integrated drink holders.

What's notable about all these introductions is their versatility.

They're designed to support multiple use cases beyond just gameplay, which makes them easier for both retailers and consumers to justify.

Finally, we have an update on the Brandhouse Collective.

The company formerly known as Kirkland's reported third quarter results that fell short of expectations as it awaits completion of its acquisition by Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Net sales fell 9.5% to $103.5 million for the quarter ended November 1, down from $114.4 million in the year ago period.

This was driven by a 7.4% decline in consolidated comparable sales and a roughly 6% decline in store count by channel.

Store comps actually increased 1.7%, but E Commerce plunged 34.6% during the period.

The company closed three Kirkland's Home stores and converted three stores to bed, Bath and Beyond home stores, ending the quarter with 303 Kirkland stores and three Bed, Bath and Beyond Home stores across 35 states.

Gross profit was $21.1 million, or 20.4% of net sales, compared with $32.1 million in the prior year.

Quarter net loss in the quarter was $3.7 million, better than the $7.7 million loss in the third quarter of 2024.

Adjusted EBITDA swung to a loss of $9.9 million, compared with income of $500,000 in the year ago, period.

CEO Amy Sullivan remained upbeat about the transformation efforts, noting that inventory optimization is strategically supporting store conversions and creating space for expanded Bed, Bath and Be the pending merger, which values Brandhouse at $26.8 million, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.

That wraps up today's edition of Furniture Industry News.

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