Research analysts at Piper Sandler say preliminary checks for mattress and furniture sales over Labor Day weekend suggest mattress sales were up 3%-5%.
Sales growth was driven by average tickets (transactions remain negative) as premium products continue to outperform, the report says. Feedback on sales into LDW (last two weeks of August) was mixed but largely negative.
“Every channel contact we spoke with is concerned about the next two to three months (election and seasonal weakness),” the report reads. “All in, we would characterize LDW as a success, and — following two and a half years of very negative sales trends — furniture and mattress sales continue to slowly progress toward stabilization.”
The report goes on to offer specifics:
- Unlike other holiday weekends earlier this year, the firm’s checks with larger retailers were solidly and consistently positive, with mean and median results up 6% and 4%, respectively. But because they have heard larger retailers gained share while small/midsized players were much more mixed, they dialed their estimate back slightly to up 3%-5%.
“Within our checks we consistently found ticket to be the key driver with transactions down y/y,” the report says. “Premium was called out as the best-performing price tier while low-end seemed to outperform midrange products. Weather did not seem to be a factor on weekend sales performance.” - Retailer feedback on the weeks heading into LDW was mixed, according to analysts — and on average they say it looks weak and negative.
- Analysts picked up a combination of both very favorable feedback and slightly negative feedback for Tempur Sealy International over the holiday weekend. “While this is a divergence from recent holiday weekends (in which Tempur is consistently highlighted as an outperformer), the average feedback on Tempur was strong/positive and suggests outperformance,” the report says. “Sealy continues to be called out as an area of weakness, and feedback on Stearns & Foster was mixed. Outside of TPX, both Beautyrest Black and Aireloom were highlighted as strong outperfomers. For other SSB brands, the new Serta Perfect Sleeper was highlighted favorably, while Beautyrest Harmony was highlighted negatively.
