As a journalist, I can confirm that people respond to questions differently.
There are some similar responses, but no two are exactly alike. It’s for that reason that hearing what others in the industry are thinking is so important. To make this clear, we have developed five questions to ask several industry leaders.
Our first interview is with Brad Schweig, owner of the two-store Sunnyland Outdoor Living in Texas. Schweig is always thinking and strategizing, and that’s one reason he was able to open another store when casual retailers were struggling or closing. Here’s what he had to say about the industry:
1. What opportunities does the casual industry have this year?
I heard on the news this morning that people are rethinking summer travel plans, especially overseas due to the international conflict and potential fuel surcharges on airlines. While I don’t expect it to be a significant opportunity, there will probably be some additional dollars that people might want to reinvest into creating a resort in their backyard versus traveling. I also think there’s the potential of tariff refunds benefiting some parts of the population. Whether it’s funneled back to consumers with future price decreases, the employees of the companies who paid the tariffs, or the wall street executives who decide not to pay it forward, someone will end up with the $166 billion in tariff refunds and have cash to burn.
2. What are the biggest challenges the industry will face this year?
The current turmoil in the Middle East will probably continue to rattle the economy. I personally feel that consumers are still not opening up their wallets as much for big discretionary purchases, as they aren’t sure what the future looks like. And when they do open their wallet, they are going to really make sure it’s the right decision — they are less likely to walk in for the first time and drop several thousand on a Saturday afternoon.
3. How do you predict the industry will fare this year as a whole?
OK. Just OK. We are seeing some modest improvements over previous years so far, which is encouraging. But with the state of the economy and the world, I don’t think we end the year saying, “Man, that was a great year!”
4. What should the industry be paying attention to this year?
I’d encourage our industry to pay closer attention to what’s happening on the indoor side of furniture retail. In many ways, they’re years ahead of us when it comes to strategy, technology, design and even basic business operations at times. With a few exceptions, most of the design-forward furniture customers want what comes from manufacturers in the indoor industry or from companies with a parent in the indoor industry. I also feel that, at times, when I walk into specialty national retailers that sell quality indoor and outdoor furniture, they offer looks or price points. I was speaking to a manufacturer last month, and even they admitted that their furniture is of amazing quality, but their designs aren’t there (although they are actively working to change that). At times, it also seems by the time outdoor has caught up to indoor, indoor has already moved on to the next new thing.
5. What are you most excited about this year?
I’m excited to keep learning how AI tools can help us do what we already do well, just better, faster and smarter. And if the AI overlords are eventually going to take over anyway, we might as well get a few good years of productivity and profit out of it first.
