As long as we all need a shelter and a roof over our heads, home furnishing business will remain and flourish. American consumers in general are paying more and more attention to their homes, which are now serving more purposes than just a place to rest. Home owners are now considering their homes a place to entertain, to find peace of mind, to escape from the daily chaos. In fact, a study conducted by Home Accents Today (a US-based leading information source for home furnishing) has found that 50 percent of an average day is spent at home by American consumers who either own or rent a property.

This spells a positive-looking future for the home furnishing business, especially the one in the U.S. where home-owners are nowadays more knowledgeable and savvier than ever when it comes to furnishing a place they can call their own. They know what they want when they want it, and will not settle for anything less than what they bargain for.

These consumers, many of them being “Echo Boomers”, are mostly first-time homeowners, with an ever-changing mindset that motivates them to constantly renovate their homes to reflect their true selves. Television has also helped promote the home improvement craze in that fans of the show often turn out to be genuine furniture buyers. They have clear ideas of what they want at a set price they already have in mind, making them “knowledgeable” consumers that retailers can no longer take them for granted. The pervasive demand for stylish, up-to-date furniture at unbeatable prices is all that in the street.

With demand comes supply, which is now gladly offered by leading chain retailers and discounters such as Target, Wal-Mart, Sears, Kmart and the like – all of which were not specialised furniture retailers to begin with. These chain retailers, known for their utter convenience for a one-stop shopping, are taking up the furniture sector and mass consumers by storm. This changed market landscape in recent years has caused quite a few problems for the U.S. furniture industry, especially to those small-scale independent stores. They are now struggling for survival with their limited market exposure, resources and equally limited customer base.

It is no surprise that U.S. consumers, in particular those in the younger demographic segment, are turning to discount department stores to fulfill their home furnishing needs. Wal-Mart, for example, has now become the largest furniture retailer in the country. Its retail outlets are extremely accessible with branches taking up most of the shopping malls – one trip to the store takes care of all the buyers’ needs for renovating or decorating their homes. Also, many of these retailers like to team up with renowned furniture designers for their stylish collections that are often sold in stores on an exclusive basis. They are offering consumers more product choices and at prices so low that consumers are finding them difficult to resist. These discounters’ marketing and production strategy is all about volume-buying and producing more at less cost, so that they can better compete with each other, while further boosting their market share. Kmart, for instance, has formed a partnership with the fine living guru Martha Stewart by launching recently a furniture collection under her name.

To many, these unbeatable prices seem too good to be true. However, while favoured by many young consumers looking for a “quick fix” when setting up a home, these highly-affordable furniture pieces may only provide short-term solutions to home furnishing. A recent report by the New York Times has revealed that many of the furniture pieces offered by these volume retailers are usually not what they are supposed to be in terms of quality. Several product testings have revealed that many of the furniture pieces found at these discount stores are often made of lower-end materials, and are generally not as durable as they claim to be.

Another downside to these low-priced furniture pieces is that because they are mass-produced with minimum original craftsmanship involved, they are highly dispensable. There has never been an easier time for furniture users to throw away a perfectly functional piece of furniture so they can go out and purchase a new one. Such consumer behavior is now more common than ever, which industry experts see as actually doing no good to the furniture industry. The tossing away is depreciating the value of the furniture itself, making it nothing more than just a materialistic decoration that carries zero sentimental value.

These disadvantages have prompted many consumers to begin now to realise the true meaning of “value for money” furniture. For those struggling independent furniture stores, they find their niches that will help them stay in business.

These small-scale stores in the U.S. are typically those who have established a close-knit relationship with their local community, making them easier to form sentimental, personal relationships with their customers, which is vital for repeat business. Knowledgeable and experienced staff are also hard to find when one is shopping at discount stores where the sales staff may not be familiar with the customer’s wants and needs. This is why many independent stores are spending much more time on equipping their staff to provide more personalised service to customers.

Offering unique, exclusive or even antique-style products that come with exceptional quality and fine craftsmanship is also another way for independent furniture stores to gain extra edge to compete. Though consumers today enjoy the convenience of shopping at major department stores, there are always those who appreciate and value the exclusivity and uniqueness that are only available at the small independent stores.

It is also essential for independent store owners to be constantly aware of the changing trends in the furniture industry, so they can further attract their customers with products that will keep them intrigued and surprised time after time.

The so-called “Wal-Martisation” has in the past few years changed the face of retailing in dramatic ways. The furniture industry is one of the many fields witnessing this change. The discount retail chains are putting independent stores out of business as a result of their overwhelming expansion and marketing strategy. It has been reported that many small retailers have been forced to shut down after decades of operation and it is believed that this trend will continue as long as discount merchants keep on offering consumers unbeatable bargains. With that being said, small-scale furniture retailers can still do good business by going the extra mile to offer customers something others are not – both product-wise and service-wise.