HOOKER FURNISHINGS Corp

Hooker Furnishings Corporation, incorporated in Virginia in 1924, is a designer, marketer and importer of casegoods (wooden and metal furniture), leather furniture, fabric-upholstered furniture, lighting, accessories, and home decor for the residential, hospitality and contract markets. We also domestically manufacture premium residential custom leather, custom fabric-upholstered furniture and outdoor furniture.

Reportable Segments

Furnishings sales account for all of our net sales. For financial reporting purposes and as described further below, we are organized into three reportable segments, Hooker Branded, Home Meridian and Domestic Upholstery. Our other businesses are aggregated into “All Other”. See Note 18 -Segment Information to our Consolidated Financial Statements for additional financial information regarding our operating segments.

Products

Our product lines cover the design spectrum of residential furnishings: traditional, contemporary and transitional. Further, our product lines are in the “good”, “better” and “best” product categories, which carry medium and upper price points. Hooker Furnishings Corporation consists of the following three operating segments and “All Other”:

Sourcing

Imported Products

We have sourced products from foreign manufacturers for over thirty years, predominantly from Asia. Imported casegoods and upholstered furniture together accounted for approximately 71%, 70%, and 72% of our net sales in fiscal 2025, fiscal 2024, and fiscal 2023, respectively.

Our imported furniture business is subject to inherent risks in importing products manufactured abroad, including, but not limited to: supply disruptions and delays due to a variety of reasons, including our foreign suppliers’ factory capacities, factory shutdowns and delays, fluctuations in ocean freight costs, container and vessel space availability, currency exchange rate fluctuations, economic and political developments and instability, as well as the laws, policies and actions of foreign governments and the United States. These laws, policies and actions may include regulations affecting trade or the application of tariffs, such as the current ten percent tariff and the potential additional reciprocal tariffs on imports imposed by the current U.S. administration , affecting the countries from which we source imported home furnishings and components, including the possible adverse effects on our sales, earnings, and liquidity.

Because of the large number and diverse nature of the foreign suppliers in Vietnam, China, Mexico, India, and Malaysia from which we source our imported products, we have flexibility in the sourcing of products among any particular supplier or country. However, a disruption in our supply chain from a major supplier or from Vietnam in general, could significantly compromise our ability to fill customer orders for products manufactured at that factory or in that country. Supply disruptions and delays on selected items could occur for six months or longer. If we were to be unsuccessful in obtaining those products from other sources or at a comparable cost, a disruption in our supply chain from a major furniture supplier, or from Vietnam in general, could decrease our sales, earnings and liquidity.

Given the sourcing capacity available in Vietnam and other low-cost producing countries such as China, Mexico, Malaysia, and India, as well as our supply chain diversification efforts, we believe the risks from these potential supply disruptions are manageable in the long-term. However, our insight into the probability of a wide scale global or regional disruption or pandemic, like the COVID-19 pandemic, remains limited. See Item 1A, “Risk Factors” for additional information on our risks related to imported products.

For imported products, we generally negotiate firm pricing with foreign suppliers in U.S. Dollars, typically for a term of at least one year. However, under certain circumstances, we may re-negotiate pricing during the year. We accept the exposure to exchange rate movements during these negotiated periods. We do not use derivative financial instruments to manage this risk but could choose to do so in the future. Since we transact our imported product purchases in U.S. Dollars, a relative decline in the value of the U.S. Dollar compared to the currencies from which we obtain our imported products could increase the price we pay for imported products beyond the negotiated periods. We generally expect to reflect substantially all of the effects of any price increases from suppliers in the prices we charge for imported products. However, these price changes could adversely impact sales volume and profit margin during the affected periods, and potential competitive pricing pressures could limit the company’s ability to pass cost increases to vendors or customers. Additionally, we generally do not apply price increases on order backlog, which could adversely affect our earnings. Conversely, a relative increase in the value of the U.S. Dollar compared to the currencies from which we obtain our imported products could decrease the cost of imported products and favorably impact net sales and profit margins during the affected period. However, due to other factors, such as inflationary pressure, we may not fully realize savings when exchange rates fall. Therefore, lower exchange rates may only have a tempering effect on future price increases by merely delaying cost increases on imported products. See also Item 7A. “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.”

Raw Materials

Significant materials used in manufacturing our domestic upholstered furniture products include leather, fabric, foam, wooden and metal frames and electronic mechanisms. Most of the leather is imported from Italy and South America and is purchased as full hides and cut and sewn in our facilities or is purchased as pre-cut and sewn kits processed by our vendors to our pattern specifications. We believe our sources for raw materials are adequate and that we are not overly dependent on any one supplier. Our five largest domestic upholstery suppliers accounted for 31% of our raw materials purchases for domestic upholstered furniture manufacturing operations in fiscal 2025. Should disruptions with these suppliers occur, other than macro disruptions affecting all such suppliers, we believe we could successfully source these products from other suppliers without significant disruption to our operations. After the implementation of the initial reciprocal tariffs in April 2025, we have observed price increases in imported raw materials, including fabrics, steel, and hides. Generally, we engage in negotiations with our suppliers to share a portion of the tariff burden. However, if we are unable to offset the tariff costs on these imported materials, it may lead to increased product costs, potentially adversely affecting net sales and profit margins.

Customers

Our home furnishings products are sold through a variety of retailers including independent furniture stores, department stores, mass merchants, national chains, catalog merchants, interior designers, and e-commerce retailers. No single customer accounted for more than 7% of our consolidated sales in fiscal 2025. Our top five customers accounted for approximately 24% of our fiscal 2025 consolidated sales. The loss of any one or more of these customers would have a material adverse impact on our business. Less than 2% of our sales in fiscal 2025 were to international customers. We define sales to international customers as sales to customers outside of the United States and Canada since our independent domestic sales force services both countries.

Competition

The furniture industry is highly competitive and includes a large number of foreign and domestic manufacturers and importers, none of which dominates the market in our price points. While the markets in which we compete include a large number of relatively small and medium-sized manufacturers, certain competitors have substantially greater sales volumes and financial resources than we do. U.S. imports of furniture produced overseas, such as from Vietnam and China, have stabilized in recent years. The primary competitive factors for home furnishings in our price points include price, style, availability, service, quality and durability. Competitive factors in the hospitality and contract furniture markets include product value and utility, lead times, on-time delivery and the ability to respond to requests for special and non-standard products. We believe our design capabilities, ability to import and/or manufacture upholstered furniture, product value, longstanding customer and supplier relationships, significant sales, distribution and inventory capabilities, ease of ordering, financial strength, experienced management and customer support are significant competitive advantages.

Warehousing and Distribution

We distribute furniture to retailers directly from factories and warehouses in Asia via our container direct programs and from our facilities in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and California, and in limited cases, from customer operated warehouses in strategic locations. Due to our exit from the Accentrics Home (“ACH”) business unit which demanded significant amounts of inventory to meet the quick shipping requirements of its e-commerce model, we reduced the physical footprint of the Georgia warehouse by 400,000 square feet over the course of fiscal 2024. In March 2025, we announced the planned exit from our Georgia warehouse. The exit strategy involves several risks, including the timely execution of the exit, costs and availability of temporary warehousing, expenses related to relocation and start-up, and potential challenges with ERP and technology systems. Additional considerations include the timing and magnitude of restructuring charges, anticipated cost savings, and the potential for disruptions to sales, earnings, and revenue. See additional information in Management’s Discussion and Analysis and Note 22 Subsequent Events on page 23 and F-33.

Working Capital Practices

Inventory

We generally import casegoods inventory and certain upholstery items in amounts that enable us to meet the delivery requirements of our customers, our internal in-stock goals and minimum purchase requirements from our sourcing partners. The majority of products in the Hooker Branded segment are shipped from our U.S. warehouses, while a large percentage of products sold at our Home Meridian segment are not warehoused by us but ship directly to our customers and thus are not included in our inventory. Our Domestic Upholstery segment products are made to order and shipped shortly after they are produced; however, this segment carries significant amounts of raw materials for production. We do not carry significant amounts of hospitality products, as most of these products are built to order and are shipped shortly after their manufacture directly to the customer.

Accounts receivable

Substantially all of our trade accounts receivable are due from retailers and dealers that sell residential home furnishings or commercial purchasers of our hospitality and senior living products, which consist of a large number of entities with a broad geographic dispersion. We perform credit evaluations of our customers and generally do not require collateral. For qualified customers, we offer payment terms, generally requiring payment 30 days from shipment. However, we may offer extended payment terms in certain circumstances, including to promote sales of our product. We purchase accounts receivable insurance on certain customers if their risk profile warrants it and the insurance is available. Due to the highly customized nature of our hospitality products, we typically require a 50% deposit upon order, a 40% deposit before goods reach a U.S. port and the remaining 10% balance due within 30 days of the receipt of goods by the customer. For our outdoor furnishings, smaller orders require full prepayment and most larger orders require a 50% deposit upon order and the balance when production is started. Additionally, some customers request and qualify for payment terms.

Accounts payable

Payment for our imported products warehoused first in Asia is due 10 to 14 days after our quality audit inspections are complete and the vendor invoice is presented. Payment for goods which are shipped to our U.S. warehouses or container direct to our customers FOB Origin (free on board origin, which means the buyer is responsible for the costs and liability of the freight during transport) is generally due upon proof of lading onto a U.S.-bound vessel and invoice presentation; however, payment terms, depending on the supplier, can stretch up to 45 days from invoice date. Payment terms for domestic raw materials and non-inventory related charges vary but are generally 30 days from invoice date.

Order Backlog

At February 2, 2025, our backlog of unshipped orders was as follows:

In the discussion below and herein, we reference changes in sales orders or “orders” and sales order backlog (unshipped orders at a point in time) or “backlog” over and compared to certain periods of time and changes discussed are in sales dollars and not units of inventory, unless stated otherwise. We believe orders are generally good current indicators of sales momentum and business conditions. If the items ordered are in stock and the customer has requested immediate delivery, we generally ship products in about seven days or less from receipt of order; however, orders may be shipped later if they are out of stock or there are production or shipping delays or the customer has requested the order to be shipped at a later date or has requested that we ship the order “in-full”, meaning all products ordered for the end-user must ship together. It is our policy and industry practice to allow order cancellation for casegoods up to the time of shipment or, in the case of container direct orders, up until the time the container is booked with the ocean freight carrier; therefore, customer orders for casegoods are not firm. However, domestically produced upholstered products are predominantly custom-built and consequently, cannot be cancelled once the leather or fabric has been cut. Additionally, our hospitality products are highly customized and are generally not cancellable. Similarly, for our outdoor furnishings, most orders require a deposit upon order and the balance before production is started, and hence are generally not cancellable.

For the Hooker Branded and Domestic Upholstery segments and All Other, we generally consider backlogs to be one helpful indicator of sales for the upcoming 30-day period, but because of our relatively quick delivery and our cancellation policies, we do not consider order backlogs to be a reliable indicator of expected long-term sales. We generally consider the Home Meridian segment’s backlog to be one helpful indicator of that segment’s sales for the upcoming 90-day period. Due to (i) the average sales order sizes of its mass and mega account channels of distribution, (ii) the proprietary nature of many of its products and (iii) the project nature of its hospitality business, for which average order sizes tend to be larger and consequently, the Home Meridien segment’s order backlog tends to be larger.

There have been exceptions to the general predictive nature of our orders and backlogs noted in this paragraph, such as during times of extremely high demand and supply chain challenges as experienced during the immediate aftermath of the initial COVID-19 crisis and subsequent recovery. Orders were not being converted to shipments as quickly as would be expected compared to the pre-pandemic environment due to the lack and cost of shipping containers and vessel space as well as limited overseas vendor capacity. As a result, backlogs were significantly elevated and reached historical levels at the end of fiscal 2021 and 2022.

At the end of fiscal 2025, our consolidated order backlog decreased by $19.2 million as compared to the prior year-end, representing a 27% decrease year-over-year. This decrease was primarily driven by a $15 million reduction in the Home Meridian backlog and a $3.4 million reduction in the Hooker Branded backlog, both due to weak demand in the home furnishings market.

• For comparison purposes, we included order backlog as of fiscal 2020 year-end, the year before the COVID crisis. At fiscal 2020 year-end, Home Meridian backlog included approximately $18 million orders from the unprofitable Clubs and Accentrics Home e-commerce (ACH) businesses which we decided to exit in fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2023, respectively. Domestic Upholstery backlog did not include Sunset West, the business we acquired in the beginning of fiscal 2023. At fiscal 2020 year-end, Sunset West had approximately $1.6 million in backlog.

Seasonality

Generally, sales in our fiscal first quarter are lower than our other fiscal quarters due to the post-Lunar New Year shipping lag and sales in our fiscal fourth quarter are generally stronger due to the pre-Lunar New Year surge in shipments from Asia.

Environmental Matters

As a part of our business operations, our manufacturing sites generate both non-hazardous and hazardous waste; the treatment, storage, transportation and disposal of which are subject to various local, state and federal laws relating to environmental protection. Our policy is to record monitoring commitments and environmental liabilities when expenses are probable and can be reasonably estimated. The costs associated with our environmental responsibilities, compliance with federal, state and local laws regulating the discharge of materials into the environment, or costs otherwise relating to the protection of the environment, have not had and are not expected to have a material effect on our financial position, results of operations, capital expenditures or competitive position.

We are actively working to refine and align our environmental stewardship based on current best practices, shareholder expectations and regulatory developments through our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) focused employee committee called CARE (Community Action & Responsibility for our Environment). It regularly updates management and updates the Board at least quarterly on these initiatives. We note the following recent and ongoing activities and new developments:

Human Capital Resources

As of February 2, 2025, we had 1,034 full-time employees, of which 233 were employed in our Hooker Branded segment, 173 were employed in our Home Meridian segment, 623 were employed in our Domestic Upholstery segment and 5 were employed in All Other. By geographical area, 895 employees were located in the United States and 139 were located in Asia. None of our employees are represented by a labor union. We consider our relations with our employees to be good.

Our employees are critical to our success, and we are committed to attracting, developing, and retaining top talent to drive our business forward. The core values of our Company include integrity, caring and inclusivity that affirms every individual. Our leadership team is committed to fostering an environment where everyone is welcomed, respected, listened to and valued for their unique contributions to the organization, and to providing a work environment that is free from all forms of harassment, discrimination and inequality. We recruit, employ, train, promote and compensate our employees without regard to race, ethnicity, age, gender, gender identity, religion, national origin, citizenship, marital status, veteran’s status or disability. All facilities have established human resource departments with formal hiring processes and controls in place to ensure ethical and fair hiring practices. Some of the action steps we have taken recently or are working on currently include:

Patents and Trademarks

The Hooker Furnishings, Hooker Furniture, Bradington-Young, Sam Moore, Pulaski Furniture, Samuel Lawrence Furniture, Samuel Lawrence Hospitality, Home Meridian International, Prime Resources International, Shenandoah, H Contract, Sunset West, HF Custom and BOBO trade names represent many years of continued business. We believe these trade names are well-recognized and associated with quality and service in the furnishings industry. We also own a number of patents and trademarks, both domestically and internationally, none of which is considered to be material.

Governmental Regulations

Our company is subject to U.S. federal, state and local laws and regulations in the areas of safety, health, employment and environmental pollution controls, as well as U.S. and international trade laws and regulations, including tariffs. We are also subject to foreign laws and regulations. In the past, compliance with these laws and regulations has not had any material effect on our earnings, capital expenditures or competitive position in excess of those affecting others in our industry; however, the effect of compliance in the future cannot be predicted. We believe we are in material compliance with applicable U.S. and international laws and regulations.

Additional Information

You may visit us online at hookerfurnishings.com, hookerfurniture.com, bradington-young.com, hfcustomfurniture.com, shenandoahfurniture.com, mfurnishings.com, sunsetwestusa.com, homemeridian.com, pulaskifurniture.com, slf-co.com, slh-co.com, hcontractfurniture.com, and bobointriguingobjects.com. We make available, free of charge through our Hooker Furnishings website hookerfurnishings.com, our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, amendments to those reports, and other documents as soon as practical after they are filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). A free copy of our annual report on Form 10-K may also be obtained by contacting Earl Armstrong, Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice-President Finance and Corporate Secretary at CorpSec@hookerfurnishings.com or by calling 276-632-2133.