The home furnishings business continues to be challenged, but don’t tell that to big retailers like Wayfair, Bob’s, Amazon and Havertys, which over the past week have had positive news about their businesses and the overall state of the sector.

Nobody is celebrating quite yet, but a mix of good financial results, new store openings and the biggest IPO in years all seem to suggest that the great national furniture nightmare may be coming to a close soon—and that those four brands all have one thing in common.

The latest encouraging news came from Wayfair this week, which posted its first year-over-year top-line sales increase since the feeding frenzy of the pandemic era. Sales for the fiscal year were up 5.1 percent to $12.5 billion. That handily beat the 2024 results, when sales fell a little more than 1 percent. Regardless, not enough of those revenues dropped to the bottom line, as the giant retailer showed a loss—smaller, but still in the red. Since going public 12 years ago, Wayfair has made money on a yearly basis only once: in 2020, at the height of the pandemic home boom.

The loss probably helped cause the company’s slide on the stock market in midday Wednesday trading, with the price off about 10 percent. This despite the fact that Wayfair even beat analyst forecasts. Still, CEO Niraj Shah, who is Mr. Positive in good times and bad, called the year “tremendous,” and was optimistic about 2026 going forward.

That had to be the same sentiment at Bob’s Discount Furniture, which went public at the start of February and has seen its share price climb nearly 20 percent from its original IPO offering. Analysts following the company are pointing to its aggressive growth plans to signal overall optimism for the home industry.

In an interview with Business of Home, CEO Bill Barton outlined the retailer’s plan to take its store count up from the current level of 200 to 500 through 2035. He said 100 new stores will be “infill,” located in its current core footprint—primarily the Northeast; 100 will be further expansion in the Southeast; and the balance will be based in new regions, including Texas.

But there’s more in this most recent wave of furniture optimism: Amazon has announced it will open a second superstore in the Chicagoland area, a location that will also feature an adjacent 150,000-square-foot Ashley Furniture flagship. It’s expected to open next year.

La-Z-Boy, which has been on a bit of a hot streak recently, said its retail sales were up 11 percent for its second quarter, while a Telsey Advisory Group preview of Southeastern chain Havertys’ earnings expected to be released next week will show a 7.5 percent jump in sales year over year, with comps up 4 percent.

So what’s the common denominator in all this news? It’s that magical word, “value.” All of these retail brands are focused on telling a value story. And right now, it’s the only one furniture shoppers are listening to.

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Warren Shoulberg is the former editor in chief for several leading B2B publications. He has been a guest lecturer at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business; received honors from the International Furnishings and Design Association and the Fashion Institute of Technology; and been cited by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and other media as a leading industry expert. His Retail Watch columns offer deep industry insights on major markets and product categories.