How Havenly is tackling the furniture industry slowdown with retail expansion
Havenly CEO Lee Mayer admits there’s a risk involved in opening a brand new home furnishings store right now. Not only are shoppers are increasingly price-conscious and cautious about what they’re buying, but the home sales slowdown has had a chilling effect on the furnishings industry.
But Havenly’s artisan-driven furnishings brand The Citizenry just opened its second retail store in Dallas this past week. Havenly launched as an interior design service in 2014 but has since acquired multiple furniture brands as it looks to build a portfolio of owned brands. And Mayer said Havenly intends to invest in brick-and-mortar across all its brands this year with store refreshes and potential expansions.
“It’s definitely a part of our strategy,” she said. “In particular, we want to get ahead of tailwinds. When suddenly the market opens and people are buying homes again, I want to make sure we’re in those cities.”
The Citizenry specializes in artisan- and craftsman-created home goods, like hand-knotted Indian rugs. The new store is adjacent to one from Interior Define, another Havenly brand. Other neighbors include Room and Board, Pottery Barn and Herman Miller, as well as brands like Apple, The Real Real and Yeti.
For Havenly, the new location is an opportunity to tap into its existing customer base — Dallas is a top five market for The Citizenry and the site of its headquarters — and acquire new ones. Havenly acquired The Citizenry just over a year ago, which had a flagship in New York City. It most recently acquired modular furniture brand Burrow in October 2024. Previously, Havenly purchased the assets of customizable furniture and upholstery brand, Interior Define, and in 2022, it was combined with direct-to-consumer furniture brand The Inside.
Havenly’s brick-and-mortar strategy comes at a time when physical retail still counts for nearly 83% of all purchases total, according to eMarketer forecasts. “In a moment like this, you can be at an advantage if you’re not making crazy-risky moves,” Mayer said. “But one or two or four store openings in a quarter is a measured approach to leaning into the market.”
But it’s a unique strategy in an industry that’s seeing ongoing pressure. Home sales, typically the main driver of furniture sales, have yet to rebound as interest rates remain high. Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah said on the company’s February earnings call that the depressed housing cycle has had an “overhang” on customers’ willingness to spend on their homes, according to a transcript. “The forward outlook, especially in the core of our business — big and bulky furniture — is as unpredictable as any point in the past four years, ” Shah said.
Furniture sales hit $10.5 billion in January 2025, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures, a 3.7% increase from January 2024. But it’s unlikely to see more growth as shoppers pull back discretionary spending amid inflation concerns and tariff-induced price increases, said Amar Singh, senior director at Kantar. “When there’s economic uncertainty, home décor and furnishings take a massive hit,” he told Modern Retail. “Shoppers cut down on expenses, and these categories tend to suffer.”
But there is a shopper, Singh said, who is looking to upgrade — and that shopper is likely to be price-conscious and looking for value.
“Retailers need to offer a mix of affordability and quality to win over shoppers,” he said. “High-end furniture is getting more expensive, but most consumers are looking for value.”
For Havenly’s Mayer, that’s where having a brick-and-mortar footprint can pay off. The Citizenry, for its part, operates at a premium price point — like selling a $279 linen quilt from Portugal. But Mayer said shoppers who are looking to invest in their homes are increasingly concerned about quality, which often means shopping around in person and interacting with a product before they buy it.
“It’s such a high-quality product, but if you’re selling it on the internet, it’s hard to communicate that in the same way that you could if there’s a tactile experience patch,” she said. “Anyone that’s experienced a product in The Citizenry store, even if they don’t buy it in the store, is highly likely to consider it.”
Beyond the “touch and feel” experience, Mayer said physical stores also help lift brand awareness for the e-commerce operation. Stores in design districts in growing places can tap into new homeowners, college dorm decorators and influencers to help grow their business. Markets see a lift in online sales traffic with every new store opening, she said, while the opportunity for experiences and in-store events — like a flower arranging class — also help bump brand awareness.
Beyond the stores themselves, ensuring continued sales with value-driven customers requires significant focus and follow-up. Mayer said Havenly’s brands are doing more to target customers during a longer consideration journey, whether that’s doing more targeted discounts or in-store offers. Other brands, like Burrow, are experimenting with new product launches. And in addition to looking for the right places to expand its physical footprint, Havenly may also take on store refreshes for some of its brands’ locations, Mayer said.
“The key is to inspire people to take action. How do we get that person inspired and get them off the sidelines?” she said. “We have to come up with more creative ways to have you remember that you should buy something lovely for your home and upgrade it if you need to or want to.”