The terrible hurricanes that devastated large areas of Texas as well as Florida and Puerto Rico earlier this year resulted in losses in lives and property that are still being totaled up. No doubt the financial tally will be well over $100 billion with much of that impacting the residential market where the number of homes partially or totally destroyed will be of historic proportions.
For many people, the losses are irreplaceable.
But for the home furnishings industry, particularly segments such as lighting, the rebuilding processes now going on once again present opportunities for both retailers and suppliers to help restore what was lost.
They also offer the chance for business to get involved in humanitarian and charity support efforts, a movement that has already begun in many areas.
Some 135,000 homes in just the greater Houston area are estimated to have been damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Harvey and as the rebuilding process continues, they are now starting to be repaired or rebuilt. And they will all need new home furnishings, from portable and hard-wired lighting to rugs and furniture and down to sheets and towels.
The first signs of how much business that will produce showed up in the recent financial filings from Home Depot and Lowes, the nation’s two largest home improvement chains.
Though each retailer took short-term hits with store closings during the actual storms they rebounded quickly afterwards. Depot said storm repair purchases added some $282 million to its same store sales for its most recent quarter. Lowes, which is smaller than Home Depot, said it added $200 million in sales due to the storms. And those numbers will only go up as the rebuilding processes continue in the affected areas.
The first wave of spending will of course focus on building supplies like lumber, roofing, windows and systems like air conditioning and plumbing. But as the new and repaired houses begin to take shape, consumers will move into the decorating stage of the process and that’s where categories like lighting will feel the resurgence in business.
And while there are no hard estimates on when that process will hit it stands to reason that suppliers and retailers in the lighting and home furnishings business will see upturns in Texas and Florida throughout 2018. Puerto Rico, which has been significantly slower to react at least partially due to the greater devastation and isolation of the island, will probably not see its home furnishings resurgence until the later part of 2018 and into 2019.
In the meantime, a range of both suppliers and retailers have begun humanitarian efforts to help the hurricane victims. Both working through organizations like the Red Cross. Good360 and Unite to Light as well direct contributions, the industry has risen to the occasion since the storms hit in late summer.
But whatever the timing for business opportunities, savvy companies in the lighting industry should be prepared to handle this significant uptick in business over the next 12 to 18 months.