Furniture firm prepares for IPO as prospects improve
Furniture chain Bob’s Discount Furniture is to launch an initial public offering (IPO) for shares in the company. It plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange.
Based in Manchester, Connecticut, Bob’s has an extensive range of leather sofas and armchairs among its products.
In recent comments, the company said the furniture market has had a difficult last few years but was now operating in “a more favourable landscape”.
It explained that during the covid-19 lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, the furniture market grew strongly as people invested in a stay-at-home lifestyle. Bob’s has said the slowdown that followed this has been exacerbated by high interest rates and inflation.
But it said interest rates and inflation in the US were now “normalising”; it expects sales of houses to improve as a result.
Bob’s Discount Furniture added that the current tariff confusion is affecting its business less than that of some furniture companies. It said it had stopped sourcing in China before the end of 2024 and that it now sources 63% of its products from Vietnam and 27% from suppliers based in the US.
