OVERVIEW
The market for ready-to-assemble (RTA) furniture is comprised of prefinished or unfinished, nonupholstered wood, metal, and plastic furniture that is purchased in component form and then assembled by the consumer. During the early years, these products faced a tremendous perception problem with consumers, as most people believed that RTA furniture was "cheap" and not very durable. The early market for RTA furniture was primarily limited to carts used to transport the television from room to room within the house and accessory furniture suitable for the basement or a childs bedroom.
However, huge improvements in the appearance and durability of RTA furniture jump-started this sleepy market about a decade ago. These advances included more decorative designs, combinations of wood and nonwood pieces and metal and glass units, stronger pieces, and plastic veneers on nonwood pieces that were indistinguishable from real wood. Also contributing to the surge in demand around that time was the rise in the number of home offices, as well as the booming consumer
DISCUSSION PARAMETERS
In this report, Leading Edge Reports examines trends in the U.S. marketplace for ready-to-assemble (RTA) furniture, as well as its notable role in the overall household furniture industry. The report analyzes the market from the manufacturers level down to the retail arena.
There are two main categories defined here: wood RTA furniture and nonwood RTA furniture. The wood RTA furniture category includes office furniture, seating, kitchen pieces, bedroom furniture, and entertainment units, as well as outdoor and casual household furniture. The nonwood RTA furniture category consists of metal and glass and plastic indoor and outdoor household furniture.
The first chapter in the report examines U.S. manufacturers sales of RTA furniture in conjunction with the wood and nonwood household furniture market. The data includes historical sales figures going back to 1990 and projections through 2012. The second chapter digs deeper into the U.S. market for RTA furniture, showing historical and projected U.S. manufacturers sales in each product category. The next chapter examines the market environment, discussing both positive and negative factors affecting the U.S. RTA furniture industry. The fourth chapter probes the structure of the RTA furniture industry, as well as the structure of the wood and metal household furniture industries. It delves into advertising, pricing, and foreign trade, as well as items such as payroll and material costs, employment trends, and capital spending. The competitive situation is also illustrated via in-depth profiles of representative companies. The final chapter investigates the distribution of RTA
furniture, with an examination of the competitive retail landscape.
SOURCES AND METHODOLOGY
The data in this report has been gathered from both primary and secondary sources. Primary research included contact with executives in the industry, often to verify published data. Secondary research sources included trade publications, industry groups, company annual reports, private databases, government agencies, and so on.
In cases where data was incomplete, estimates were based on a number of factors, ranging from historical supply-and-demand patterns to the relative weight of demographic, societal, and economic influences upon the market. Projections for future sales were made in the same manner.
In the statistical tables included in this report, columns may not add exactly to their totals due to independent rounding. It should also be noted that growth rates may have been calculated using unrounded numbers.
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