This report examines developments in the retail living and dining room furniture sector, last investigated by Mintel in November 2001. Retail value sales of living and dining room furniture are sizeable, worth an estimated £2.29 billion in 2003 and up by 4% on 1998. Despite its size, the sector has been subject to considerable price pressures in recent years, resulting from a combination of retailer price-cutting activity and the rising level of lower-cost imports.

Living room furniture is the larger of the two sectors, with the upholstered segment the larger of the living room sector and the one that has suffered most from price erosion. The non-upholstered segment, while much smaller, is one in which design and styling are currently benefiting value sales. Turning to the dining room furniture market, this remains under pressure from factors such as more infrequent formal dining, which has contributed to a slight decline in the sector's retail value.

'Living- and Dining-Room Furniture in the UK, 2003' is the latest report from Mintel Market Intelligence, providing a unique investigation into the market's trends, sectors and consumers. Offering you a fresh and extensive insight into:

1. The extent to which the buoyant housing market is acting as a major driver
2. The dangers posed to the market by the trend towards smaller house and flats without a separate dining room
3. How modest growth in retail value reflects price competition
4. The increasing popularity of leather and self-assembly furniture
5. How relatively low penetration of self-assembly furniture in this sector in assisting value sales
6. A fragmented supply structure
7. Robust adspend despite sluggish sales
8. The growing market share of furniture multiples
9. The strength of consumer interest in furniture purchases
10. How the market’s future remains full of challenges
11. Why the pressure on prices and margins is not expected to disappear
12. settees, sofa beds and easy chairs
13. modular seating, designed to be positioned together to form a variety of seating arrangements.
14. dining room tables and chairs, sold separately or in sets
15. wall storage and divider units
16. sideboards and dressers
17. coffee and other occasional tables
18. bookcases
19. home entertainment storage units.
20. Kitchen Furniture - UK, Market Intelligence, September 2003
21. Home Office Furniture - UK, Market Intelligence, January 2003
22. Furniture Retailing - UK, Retail Intelligence, December 2002.