On November 1, 2024, it was reported, Wayfair on Friday reported third-quarter net revenue fell 2% year over year to $2.9 billion. Within the U.S., net revenue fell 2.3% from the year-ago period to $2.5 billion, while international revenue was flat at $372 million. The online home goods retailer narrowed its losses during the period, with operating loss declining 51% to $74 million and net loss falling 55% to $74 million. Wayfair's active customer base contracted in Q3, declining 2.7% from last year to 21.7 million. Orders delivered during the third quarter fell 6.1% year over year to 9.3 million, but average order value increased from $297 last year to $310 this year. Furniture and home furnishing store sales fell 5.3% year over year in September, according to monthly data released from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Those initiatives include the recent launch of Wayfair Rewards, a paid loyalty program that costs $29 a year. The new program replaces Wayfair's existing credit cards rewards program and follows a previous loyalty program, MyWay, that ended in 2020. "Our biggest learning from MyWay was that the customer value proposition that we had associated with the program it just wasn't that strong," Shah said on a call with analysts Friday. Shah pointed to perks associated with Wayfair Rewards, which include free shipping, early access to major sales events and 5% back in rewards on purchases. The financial report comes after Wayfair announced layoffs that will impact close to 220 employees as it prepares to close a returns center and outlet store in Florence, Kentucky, at the end of 2025. Layoffs will begin at the end of this year and continue throughout 2025, the company said.
On October 22, 2024, it was reported, Furniture manufacturer and importer Flexsteel reported first quarter sales up 9.9% to $104 million. It has now reported year-over-year and sequential increases for four consecutive quarters. Flexsteel continues to buck the industry trend on the bottom line as well. Gross margin for the quarter, ended Sept. 30, climbed to 21.5% for the first quarter compared with 19.5% in the prior year quarter. Operating income surged to 5.8% of sales, or $6 million, compared to 2% of net sales, or $1.9 million, in last year's first quarter. Net income more than quintupled, coming in at $4.1 million vs. $752 in the year-ago quarter. Diluted earnings per share were $0.74 vs. $0.14. Flexsteel ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $5.74 million, up handily from $2.98 million in the comparable quarter. "Our exceptional growth performance was driven by both share gains in our core markets and diversified new growth in expanded markets resulting from our commitment to aggressively invest in new product development, innovation, customer experience and marketing," said Derek Schmidt, president and CEO. With the first quarter squared away, the company today boosted the midpoints for both its sales and operating profit guidance for fiscal year 2025. The forecast includes: Year-over-sale sales growth of 3.5% to 6.5%, which would place fiscal year sales in the range of $427 million to $440 million Operating margin growth of 3.5% to 6.5% Free cash flow of $20 million to $30 million The company does not expect to extract borrowings from its line of credit, either for the second quarter or the full fiscal year.
On October 21, 2024, it was reported, Kirkland's Inc., a home dcor and furnishings retailer, has entered into a strategic business relationship with Midvale, Utah-based Beyond Inc., becoming the exclusive brick-and-mortar operator and licensee for smaller format Bed, Bath & Beyond locations nationwide. an initial five "neighborhood format" physical stores will be in the 7,000- to 15,000-square-foot range. There is also a non-exclusive license in the deal for shop-in-shops under the Bed, Bath & Beyond nameplate at yet-to-be-determined Kirkland's locations. Beyond Inc., which owns Bed, Bath & Beyond, Overstock and Zulily, will provide $17 million in debt financing to Kirkland's, which includes an $8.5 million promissory note and an $8.5 million convertible note. A portion of the latter will convert into Kirkland's common stock at a price of $1.85 per share upon approval by Kirkland's shareholders. The loan is being secured by Kirkland's assets and is secondary to an existing loan Kirkland's has with Bank of America. Sullivan added she expects the investment from Beyond to not only be a financial aid, but also a means to introduce Kirkland's to new customers and re-engage core customers across multiple formats. Under terms of the deal, the parties have entered into a subscription agreement in which Beyond will purchase an additional $8 million of Kirkland's common stock at the conversion price upon the approval of Kirkland's shareholders. If Kirkland's issues the full amount of shares under the agreement, Beyond will own up to 40% of Kirkland's common stock.
On August 20, 2024, it was reported, Lowe's Tuesday lowered its full-year guidance after Q2 was hit by unfavorable weather and consumer sentiment. The company expects total sales to land between $82.7 billion and $83.2 billion, down from its previous expectation for $84 billion to $85 billion; comps are expected to fall 3.5% to 4%, worse than the earlier 2% to 3% estimate. The home improvement retailer reported that Q2 net sales fell 5.5% year over year to $23.6 billion, with comps down 5.1%. Gross margin was about flat to last year at 33.5%, and net earnings fell 10.8% to $2.4 billion. The home improvement segment has had some recovery from its late-pandemic downturn. During the disease outbreak many consumers, stuck at home, fixed up their houses and living spaces, but home improvement and furniture sales have stagnated since then. That has eased somewhat, with Placer.ai finding that, so far this year, traffic to both Lowe's and rival Home Depot stores has outpaced 2023 somewhat. Higher interest rates have slowed the housing market, and that has also dampened sales. While the Federal Reserve is widely expected to lower interest rates in coming weeks, the timing of any impact is unclear, Lowe's executives told analysts Tuesday. For now, the housing marketing is expected to remain soft and consumers are likely to remain cautious, particularly when it comes to pricey items like appliances or expensive home improvement projects, according to a Tuesday note from Telsey Advisory Group analysts led by Joseph Feldman. S
