Pressure At Home.

The article presents an overview of the home furnishings industry. Retail home furnishings sales inched up a mere 2.9 percent last year, overshadowed by the 7.7 percent gain in retail as a whole, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Tabletop vendors blamed a flat 2005 on the usual suspects-raw material and fuel costs, private-label and direct-sourcing pricing pressures and retail consolidation-as well as the dressing down of the home. Pillows recorded some of the strongest overall category increases, climbing 6 percent to $983 million, from $928 million in 2004.