The furniture industry is one that has been experiencing a significant shift in how it gets product to market. The role of the wholesaler in the distribution of furniture in the United States is declining as large retailers go directly to manufacturers and manufacturers set up their own direct sales outlets. The market size data presented here are for all furniture wholesalers and include the two industries designated by the U.S. Census Bureau with NAICS codes 42-3210 [Furniture Merchant Wholesalers] and 42-3220 [Home Furnishing Merchant Wholesalers].

Tomorrow we will look at furniture retailers.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1997 and 2007
Market size: Number of Establishments: 15,246 and 14,433 respectively.
Market size: Sales: $75.01 and $91.25 billion respectively (error in original post corrected on Feb. 7, 2011).
Source: “Sector 42: EC0742I2: Wholesale Trade: Industry Series: Preliminary Comparative Statistics for the United States (2002 NAICS Basis): 2007 and 2002,” 2007 Economic Census, available online here. The data from 1997 are from the 1997 Economic Census.
Original source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.