Perhaps the best that could be said about 2024 is that it was somewhat better than 2023, which was pretty awful.
This year delivered another cycle of upheaval for the industry, which has endured several years of unprecedented challenges. To my mind, five events in particular standout.
Macy’s shrinks to grow. In February, incoming Macy’s Inc. CEO Tony Spring (now chairman and CEO) unveiled the “Bold New Chapter” strategy under which the company will shutter roughly 30% of Macy’s locations by 2027. It will wind up with 350 enhanced units – a smaller but more profitable operation. Through the first 9 months of the fiscal year, combined home sales at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s were down 12.6% to $2.08 billion.
Big Lots shrinks to survive. After entering Chapter 11 in September, Big Lots began a procession of store closures. At last count, the tally was up to 553 units. The company entered 2024 with more than 1,300 stores. Suppliers expect Big Lots will ultimately wind up with around 650 doors (roughly the size of JCPenney).
Even before the cutting, Big Lots was losing ground in home. Soft home sales dropped 11.4% to $308.9 million during the first half of the fiscal year.
Keeco retrenches, opening opportunities for competitors. Keeco managed to defy widespread expectations that it would wind up in bankruptcy this year. Instead, it cut staff, walked away from several programs and hunkered down to build back off of a smaller core.
It’s anybody’s guess how much business Keeco is tending to now. At peak it hit $1 billion in annual volume. Other suppliers have snapped up former employees and are charging after businesses Keeco exited. Speaking of which…
The utility bedding gold rush is on. A lot of suppliers had already been dabbling in utility bedding, mostly through imports. But as things began to look shaky at Keeco, many stepped up their game.
The most aggressive included Welspun and Indo Count Industries. Welspun in early March announced a $12.5 million investment in U.S. production and set up the first of what will be a series of pillow manufacturing units here. Taking an alternative route, Indo Count last fall acquired two utility bedding facilities – one in Ohio and the other in Arizona – giving itself total manufacturing capacity in the U.S. of 13 million pillows, with an additional capacity of 1.5 million quilts.
The Beyond Circus. You could fill a page with the 2024 doings at Beyond Inc., formerly Overstock.com Inc. and current parent of bedbathandbeyond.com, the recently resurrected overstock.com and the recently acquired Zulily.com e-commerce businesses.
Under the leadership of turnaround guru Marcus Lemonis, the company has:
1) Said it would bring on a brand expert to revive the legacy Wamsutta brand;
2) Sold Wamsutta to Indo Count;
3) Hired a CEO to run the bedbathandbeyond.com business;
4) Canned that CEO;
5) Announced it would add $440 million in sales this year;
6) Walked that back;
7) Announced it would bring Bed Bath & Beyond back to bricks & mortar via investments in Kirkland’s Home and The Container Store;
8) Announced that the Container Store deal might not go forward after all.
Can’t wait to see what happens next year. Hopefully, 2025 will bring better sales for all – and far less drama for the industry. But with tariffs looming on the horizon, it looks like we’re in for another wild ride.