Furniture Industry Braces for Shifting Ground in Q4

Originally published October 22, 2025. This version was rebuilt from NRF, NAHB and company releases for the FIN archive, and the facts are as of that date.

The fourth quarter of 2025 opened with signals pointing in different directions. Shoppers pulled back a little at furniture stores, builders turned more optimistic, and one bankrupt online furniture brand landed with a new owner.

The short version

• The CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor showed furniture store sales down 1.87% from August in September.
• NAHB's builder confidence index rose to 37 in October.
• Flexsteel reported quarterly sales of $110.4 million, up 6.2%.
• Twin Star Home acquired Walker Edison.

A soft September at the register

The CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, which is built on card transaction data, showed furniture and home furnishings stores down 1.87% from August and up 0.56% from a year earlier. Total retail spending held up better, so the softness was concentrated in big-ticket home categories.

Builders look up

NAHB's Housing Market Index rose five points to 37 in October, its highest since April, as mortgage rates eased. Builders were still cutting prices, but expectations for future sales improved, which is usually good news for furniture demand a few months out.

Flexsteel keeps growing

Flexsteel reported first-quarter net sales of $110.4 million, up 6.2% from a year earlier, extending a long run of sales growth. The company also cautioned that consumer confidence remained fragile and tariff costs were rising.

Walker Edison changes hands

Twin Star Home, backed by Z Capital Group, announced it had acquired Walker Edison, the ready-to-assemble furniture maker that filed for Chapter 11 in August. The deal kept a large online furniture brand in business under a new owner.

Shifting ground

Spending was soft but not falling apart, and housing looked a little better. Companies with steady growth and clean balance sheets were the ones buying, and the weaker names were being absorbed.

Related on FIN

• Furniture Shoppers Are Holding Back
• New Home Sales Jumped in August. Mortgage Rates Crossed 7%.

Sources

• National Retail Federation, CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, September 2025
• National Association of Home Builders, Builder expectations rise in October
• Flexsteel Industries, First quarter fiscal 2026 results (SEC filing)
• Z Capital Group, Twin Star Home acquires Walker Edison