Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTKirk O’NeilFri, September 4, 2026 at 1:50 AM GMT+2 3 min readThe furniture sector still faces financial distress, business closings, and bankruptcies despite a year of recovery in 2025.After a two-year decline in sales, the furniture industry recovered in 2025 as combined sales of the Top 100 furniture retailers increased by 0.9% to $51.2 billion compared to the previous year, according to Furniture Today.Positive sales numbers have not been enough to stop furniture companies from filing for bankruptcy protection, though, including mattress and furniture retail chain Ortho Mattress, which filed for bankruptcy on June 1; Humble, Texas-based SuperNova Furniture, which filed for Chapter 11 protection to reorganize its business on April 15; and No Bull Mattress & More chain owner Mattress Warehouse of Charlotte Inc., which filed bankruptcy on Aug. 24.Southern Motion files Chapter 11And now, 30-year-old furniture company Southern Motion has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, facing significant financial and operational headwinds that included weaker consumer demand, increased manufacturing costs, and a burdensome, above-market master lease, according to court documents.The Pontotoc, Miss.-based manufacturer of recliner furniture filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Mississippi on Aug. 31, listing $50 million to $100 million in assets and debts.Southern Motion blamed a slow retail furniture market tied to weak housing demand for a slowdown in customer traffic, according to a declaration filed by the company's Chief Restructuring Officer David Baker of Aurora Management Partners Inc.The debtor also cited increased manufacturing costs related to tariffs and costs of fuel and container rates resulting from geopolitical events, such as the war with Iran, the declaration said.Southern Motion filed for bankruptcy protection, seeking to renegotiate its facilities' lease rate.Jeff Greenberg / Getty ImagesAbove-market lease burdenThe furniture manufacturer was burdened with an above-market master lease for more manufacturing facilities than it needed for its operations and seeks to reduce or eliminate lease obligations it can no longer afford.The debtor, which employs 645 full-time workers, currently operates four manufacturing facilities in Pontotoc, Miss.; one in Ecru, Miss.; and one in Baldwyn, Miss. The company did not indicate whether any jobs would be affected by the Chapter 11 filing.Landlord seeks evictionSouthern Motion's landlord filed two eviction proceedings against the manufacturer seeking to evict the company from facilities in Lee and Pontotoc counties, which were approved by court orders on Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, respectively, and set to take effect the day the debtor filed for bankruptcy.Terms and Privacy PolicyEU DSA contactPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info