While the flailing auto industry has garnered lots of attention during the past year, there’s another industry close to home that’s had some trouble of its own.

“Furniture has been in a recession for three years,” said Ken Goodman, owner of R.W. Goodman in Rockingham. “In 2007 shipments at wholesale were flat, in 2008, on the national level, they were down maybe 10 to 11 percent and this year shipments have been down about 20 percent. So over two years, shipments have been down 20-30 percent because furniture is one of those things that’s a deferrable purchase.”

Goodman said another thing that’s likely contributed to the furniture recession is the mortgage crisis.

“I think people bought more than they could afford so they haven’t had discretionary income to afford anything else,” Goodman said.

But in the last few months, Goodman said his store has had only one “down” month, and three “up” months.

“We’ve done better than the national average but it’s been difficult,” Goodman said.

Goodman said people used to look to High Point to get good deals on furniture, but in the last three years, two out of the three main furniture business that did about $200 million in sales each year have gone out of business. He said Boyle’s Furniture in Hickory also filed for bankruptcy.

“There are a lot of furniture retailers that were here, that aren’t around anymore,” Goodman said.

But another area business that’s hanging in there, like R.W. Goodman, is Bobby’s Furniture in Hamlet.

Allen Jordan, manager of Bobby’s Furniture, said the business saw a bit of a slowdown in August, but that October and November have been good months.

“I’m hoping that was just a small change during the summer because people were on vacation, because once they went back to school we had more traffic,” he said.

Jordan said typically, the store sees most of its holiday traffic the week of, and the week after, Thanksgiving.

“But people have been looking before then so we’ve seen more traffic in the first couple weeks of November,” Jordan said.

Goodman said the same has been going at his store.

“When people begin decorating for Christmas they want their furniture done before the holidays when family comes into town, so November is a better month for furniture than December is,” Goodman said. “It starts to taper off around Dec. 10, then picks up after Christmas. So far, I’m very happy. November has been an excellent month for us so far.”

And while Black Friday is typically a holiday reserved for retailers selling toys, clothing and electronics, it was a pretty good day for furniture too.

“We’ve been very busy today,” Goodman said Friday morning. “On Black Friday, people are usually looking for toys and Christmas decorations, they don’t always think of furniture so sometimes it’s not a great day for us.”

Both Bobby’s Furniture and R.W. Goodman sell a wide-range of items including living room, bedroom and dining room sets, mattresses, televisions, etc., so they appeal to most people’s needs.

Goodman said his big sellers lately have been room sets, mattresses and recliners.

“We sell a lot of Ashley Furniture which is reasonably priced and people can buy a whole room at an attractive price,” Goodman said. “Recliners and mattress sets are selling very well. We’re doing pretty well, but it’s tough.”

“People have been more apt to shop other stores,” Jordan said. “They don’t just shop one business anymore because they’re looking for bargains because money is tight.”

“The car business gets the news about how tough it is,” Goodman said. “But I think furniture is the second worse category in retail sales. Furniture is still a great value, people need it, but people have postponed, but at some point the demand will grow. We think it’s going to be fine.”

Goodman and Jordan also added they’ve been very conscious of their customers’ financial needs and help customers shop within their means by having various pricing levels and a variety of goods so they can appeal to a wider range of customers.

Staff writer Eren Tataragasi can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 19 or at etataragasi@yourdailyjournal.com.