HOOKER FURNISHINGS Corp 10-K

ITEM 1. BUSINESS Hooker Furniture Corporation, incorporated in Virginia in 1924, is a designer, marketer and importer of casegoods (wooden and metal furniture), leather furniture and fabric-upholstered furniture for the residential, hospitality and contract markets. We also domestically manufacture premium residential custom leather and custom fabric-upholstered furniture. We are ranked among the nation’s top five largest publicly traded furniture sources, based on 2019 shipments to U.S. retailers, according to a 2020 survey by a leading trade publication. We believe that consumer tastes and channels in which they shop for furniture are evolving at a rapid pace and we continue to change to meet these demands. Our strategy is to leverage the financial strength afforded us by Hooker’s slower-growing but highly profitable traditional businesses in order to boost revenues and earnings both organically and by acquiring companies selling in faster-growing channels of distribution in which our traditional businesses are under-represented. Consequently, Hooker acquired Home Meridian on February 1, 2016 and Shenandoah Furniture on September 29, 2017. Reportable Segments Furniture 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 17 to our consolidated financial statements for additional financial information regarding our operating segments. Products Our product lines cover the design spectrum of residential furniture: traditional, contemporary and transitional. Further, our product lines are in the “good”, “better” and “best” product categories, which carry medium and upper price points and consist of: ■ The Hooker Branded segment which includes two businesses: □ Hooker Casegoods, which covers a wide range of design categories and includes home entertainment, home office, accent, dining and bedroom furniture in the upper-medium price points sold under the Hooker Furniture brand; and □ Hooker Upholstery, imported upholstered furniture targeted at the upper-medium price-range. ■ The Home Meridian segment which includes the following brands/marketing units: □ Accentrics Home, home furnishings centered around an eclectic mix of unique pieces and materials that offer a fresh take on home fashion focused on e-commerce customers; □ Pulaski Furniture, casegoods covering the complete design spectrum in a wide range of bedroom, dining room, accent and display cabinets at medium price points; □ Samuel Lawrence Furniture, value-conscious offerings in bedroom, dining room, home office and youth furnishings; □ Prime Resources International, value-conscious imported leather motion upholstery; □ Samuel Lawrence Hospitality, a designer and supplier of hotel furnishings targeted toward four and five-star hotels; and □ HMidea, 2019 start-up that provides better-quality, ready-to-assemble furniture to mass marketers and e-commerce customers and includes our Clubs channel. ■ The Domestic Upholstery segment which includes the following operations: □ Bradington-Young, a seating specialist in upscale motion and stationary leather furniture; □ Sam Moore Furniture, a specialist in upscale occasional chairs, settees, sofas and sectional seating with an emphasis on cover-to-frame customization; and □ Shenandoah Furniture, an upscale upholstered furniture business specializing in private label sectionals, modulars, sofas, chairs, ottomans, benches, beds and dining chairs in the upper-medium price points for lifestyle specialty retailers. 5 Table of Contents ■ All Other consisting of: □ The H Contract product line which supplies upholstered seating and casegoods to upscale senior living and assisted living facilities through designers, design firms, industry dealers and distributors that service that market; and □ Lifestyle Brands, a business started in fiscal 2019 targeted at the interior designer channel. 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 83% of our net sales in both fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020 and 84% of our net sales in fiscal 2019. 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 the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and possible similar health-related issues, currency exchange rate fluctuations, transportation-related issues, 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, much like the current 25% tariff on certain goods imported into the United States from China, including almost all furniture and furniture components manufactured in China since fiscal 2019. In response to these tariffs, we began re-sourcing products from non-tariff countries, primarily Vietnam, and reduced our Chinese imports to less than 20% by the end of fiscal 2021. Because of the large number and diverse nature of the foreign suppliers 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 or China 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 or China in general, could decrease our sales, earnings and liquidity. In fiscal 2021, many of our Chinese suppliers were closed or operating at reduced capacity due to the effects of COVID-19 and we experienced some out-of-stocks on better selling items. We offered and sold available goods on hand and in transit but were unable to fully mitigate the entire sales loss from these out-of-stocks. These suppliers were in the process of returning to full capacity when the COVID-19 crisis hit the U.S., resulting in order cancellations by many furniture customers, which caused many furniture wholesalers in the U.S. to cancel production orders with their Asian suppliers. Consequently, some supplier locations closed temporarily or reduced capacity and we experienced outages in select products as a result. While most of our Asian suppliers have returned to near full capacity, demand for furniture products has surged to historic levels. This unusually high demand has caused delays in the receipt of goods as suppliers scramble to fill orders, obtain shipping containers and steamship bookings. Additionally, port congestion has led to delays in unloading furniture once it reaches US ports. All of these factors, combined with the production halt that regularly occurs at Chinese and Vietnamese New Year holidays, have significantly lengthened the time it takes to receive goods and our order backlog is at historic levels. Given the sourcing capacity available in Vietnam, China and other low-cost producing countries, we currently believe the risks from these potential supply disruptions are manageable; however, we have limited insight into the extent to which our business could be further impacted by COVID-19 and there are many unknowns including, how long we will be impacted, the severity of the impacts and the probability of a recurrence of COVID-19 or similar regional or global pandemics. 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. 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 affected periods. 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 affected period. However, due to other factors, such as inflationary pressure in China and other countries, 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.” 6 Table of Contents 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, South America and China, 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 dependent on any one supplier. However, we have seen some delays in some pre-cut and sewn kits imported from China as a result of COVID-19 and our domestic upholstery segment is currently experiencing foam shortages due to a recent severe weather event in Texas that affected production of the by-products used in foam production. Our five largest domestic upholstery suppliers accounted for 28% of our raw materials purchases for domestic upholstered furniture manufacturing operations in fiscal 2021. Should disruptions with these suppliers occur, we believe we could successfully source these products from other suppliers without significant disruption to our operations. Customers Our home furnishings products are sold through a variety of retailers including independent furniture stores, department stores, mass merchants, national chains, warehouse clubs, catalog merchants, interior designers and e-commerce retailers. One customer (Wayfair LLC and its subsidiaries) accounted for approximately 12% of our consolidated sales in fiscal 2021. Our top five customers accounted for approximately 30% of our fiscal 2021 consolidated sales. The loss of any one or more of these customers would have a material adverse impact on our business. Roughly 2% of our sales in fiscal 2021 were to international customers, which we define as sales outside of the United States and Canada. 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 distribution centers in Virginia, North Carolina and California, and in limited cases, from customer operated warehouses in strategic locations. We are in the process of consolidating our Home Meridian segment’s East Coast warehousing operations into an 800,000 square foot distribution center in Liberty County, Georgia. We believe that this strategically located facility near the Port of Savannah and major interstate highways will allow us to more efficiently service our customers, reduce transportation costs and better position us for future growth. This leased facility is currently under construction and we expect to occupy it in the Fall of 2021. 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. 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. However, during fiscal 2019 and 2020 we accelerated the delivery and subsequently increased inventory levels of some imported products from China due to the threat of tariffs on those products. Inventory levels fell significantly during fiscal 2021 as compared to the end of fiscal 2020 due primarily to the COVID-19 crisis. In early calendar 2020, Asian factories closed as COVID levels spiked in Asia. They began to slowly re-open as levels spiked in the US and the demand for home furnishings plummeted. As the initial crisis subsided in the US and demand surged, Asian manufacturing capacity was strained, and receipts of products slowed. Additionally, container availability and steamship capacity became scarce. We expect these conditions to improve as we move through fiscal 2022. A large percentage of products sold are not warehoused by us but ship directly to our customers and thus not included as inventory. We do not carry significant amounts of domestically produced upholstery inventory or hospitality products, as most of these products are built to order and are shipped shortly after their manufacture. 7 Table of Contents 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 or factor their receivables 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 with 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. Accounts payable: Payment for our imported products warehoused first in Asia is due ten to fourteen days after our quality audit inspections are complete and the vendor invoice is presented. Payment for goods which are shipped to our US warehouses or container direct to our customers FOB Origin is generally due upon proof of lading onto a US-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 January 31, 2021, our backlog of unshipped orders was as follows: Order Backlog (Dollars in 000s) January 31, 2021 February 2, 2020 Reporting Entity Dollars Weeks Dollars Weeks Hooker Branded $ 34,776 11.1 $ 10,979 3.5 Home Meridian 180,188 33.2 85,556 13.1 Domestic Upholstery 30,271 18.8 14,705 8.0 All Other 2,845 12.8 2,520 10.5 Consolidated $ 248,080 23.9 $ 113,760 9.7 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. However, except for custom or proprietary products, orders may be cancelled before shipment. 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. For the Hooker Branded and Domestic Upholstery segments and All Other, we generally consider unshipped order 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) Home Meridian’s sales volume, (ii) the average sales order sizes of its mass, club and mega account channels of distribution, (iii) the proprietary nature of many of its products and (iv) the project nature of its hospitality business, for which average order sizes tend to be larger and consequently, its order backlog tends to be larger. There are exceptions to the general predictive nature of our orders and backlogs noted in this paragraph due to current demand and supply chain challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic. They are discussed in greater detail below and are essential to understanding our prospects. At the end of fiscal 2021, order backlog increased $134.3 million or 118% as compared to the prior-year due to increased incoming orders in all three reportable segments as well as the supply chain disruptions in the Home Meridian segment and production delays in the Domestic Upholstery segment. We are very encouraged by the current historic levels of orders and backlogs; however, due to the current supply chain issues including the lack of shipping containers and vessel space and limited overseas vendor capacity, orders are not converting to shipments as quickly as could be expected in the pre-pandemic environment and we expect that to continue at least into the fiscal 2022 first quarter. The current logistics challenges are slowing order fulfillment, particularly for Home Meridian whose average order sizes tend to be larger and more episodic versus orders for the traditional Hooker businesses, which tend to be smaller and more predictable. Additionally, Home Meridian orders are programmed out and scheduled for delivery to its larger accounts further into the future than usual, which is also contributing to the increased backlog. 8 Table of Contents Seasonality Generally, sales in our fiscal first quarter are lower than our other fiscal quarters due to the post-Chinese New Year shipping lag and sales in our fiscal fourth quarter are generally stronger due to the pre-Chinese New Year surge in shipments from Asia and the product introduction schedule of a major customer. Environmental Matters As a part of our business operations, our manufacturing sites generate both non-hazardous and hazardous wastes; the treatment, storage, transportation and disposal of which are subject to various local, state and national 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. Human Capital Resources As of January 31, 2021, we had 1,148 full-time employees, of which 213 were employed in our Hooker Branded segment, 318 were employed in our Home Meridian segment, 611 were employed in our Domestic Upholstery segment and 6 were employed in All Other. None of our employees are represented by a labor union. We consider our relations with our employees to be good. We are committed to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive space for all our employees, customers, and retail partners. 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 welcome, respected, listened to and valued for their unique contributions to the organization. We focus on taking meaningful steps towards positive change and open mindedness. The action steps that we are working on currently include: ■ A Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Leadership Team has been formed with over 15 senior executives representing all divisions of the organization. This group meets on a regular basis to guide both short- and long-term goals in addition to creating the overall strategic direction of DEI at our Company; ■ We have partnered with an external consultant to assist us with crafting a plan to embed DEI in our culture; ■ Diversity, Equity & Inclusion training is required of all domestic employees; ■ We examine our internal practices and policies around compensation, career development, and promotional opportunities to ensure that our practices are fair and equitable; and ■ We are committed to proactively creating a more diverse organization by evolving our recruiting and talent acquisition methods and practices. We offer competitive benefits to support the well-being of all employees including health insurance, disability and life insurance, wellness credit, paid time off, a 401(k) savings plan with company-match, an employee assistance program, and educational stipends to children and spouses of our employees (excluding family members of officers and board directors of the Company). Additionally, need and merit-based renewable undergraduate college scholarships are available through the Hooker Educational Scholarship Fund for children and spouses of full-time employees, excluding family members of current and former officers and board directors of the Company. Patents and Trademarks The Hooker Furniture, Bradington-Young, Sam Moore, Pulaski Furniture, Samuel Lawrence Furniture, Samuel Lawrence Hospitality, Room Gear, Right2Home, Home Meridian International, Prime Resources International, Accentrics Home, HMidea, Shenandoah, H Contract, Homeware and MARQ 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. 9 Table of Contents 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. 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, sammoore.com, homemeridian.com, pulaskifurniture.com, slh-co.com and hcontractfurniture.com. We make available, free of charge through our Hooker Furniture website, 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. A free copy of our annual report on Form 10-K may also be obtained by contacting Earl Armstrong, Corporate Controller and Secretary at earmstrong@hookerfurnishings.com or by calling 276-632-2133.