Mixed Signals Define Furniture's Start to 2026

Originally published January 13, 2026. This version was rebuilt from NRF releases and Bob's Discount Furniture filing for the FIN archive, and the facts are as of that date.

The first data of 2026 told two stories. Retail as a whole had a good holiday. Furniture did not share much of it, and the import pipeline was running light.

The short version

• Furniture stores edged up from November but were down from a year earlier in December.
• Import cargo was expected to stay below last year's level until spring.
• Bob's Discount Furniture filed to go public.

Furniture misses the holiday lift

The CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor showed furniture and home furnishings stores up 0.33% from November and down 0.82% from a year earlier in December, while most of retail grew over the season.

It fit the pattern of 2025. Shoppers were willing to spend on gifts and clothes but kept putting off the sofa.

Imports stay light into spring

NRF's Global Port Tracker forecast January imports at 2.11 million TEU, down 5.3% from a year earlier, and did not expect a yearly gain until May. Retailers had pulled goods forward in 2025 to get ahead of tariffs.

For furniture importers, lighter volume meant open space on ships, but also inventory that had been bought at older costs running down.

Bob's files for an IPO

Bob's Discount Furniture filed a registration statement for a proposed initial public offering, planning to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BOBS.

A furniture retailer going public in a slow market was a bet on the value end of the business, where Bob's had kept growing.

Where the year started

Furniture began 2026 behind the rest of retail, with a thin import pipeline and one big chain betting on investors' appetite for value furniture.

Related on FIN

• Furniture Shoppers Are Holding Back
• Furniture Store Sales Fell 2.7%. Every Other Category Grew.

Sources

• National Retail Federation, CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor for December 2025
• National Retail Federation, Global Port Tracker, January 2026
• Bob's Discount Furniture, Filing of registration statement for proposed IPO