Retail Home Furnishings, Home Decor Job Employment Applications

Now Hiring Online for Furniture Sales, Interior Designers, Space Planners, Decor Consultants & more

Top employers in this category:

  1. bed bath and beyond jobs
  2. pier 1 imports jobs

Home Furnishings Industry Overview: Home furnishings stores typically offer fashionable products such as rugs, paintings, kitchen appliances, and specialized decor furniture. Job hopefuls benefit from experience with interior design and sales abilities. Applicants usually must stand at least 18 years old to gain employment. Some employers may prefer to hire candidates high school educations, while higher-level management workers frequently need to hold degrees in interior design or related fields.

furniture / home furnishing jobs
Furniture & home furnishings jobs.

Positions and Salaries: Retail salespersons offer assistance to customers, often making suggestions for the most ideal purchases. Cashiers process payments and sometimes share duties interchangeably with retail salespersons. Stock clerks arrange displays, sort items, and take inventory. Truck drivers transport the products from warehouses to stores. Drivers usually assist stock clerks in unloading items into each store. Retail managers supervise all operations and answer more difficult customer questions. The median pay for merchandise stockers stands at roughly $10.50 per hour. Retail sales employees and truck drivers earn approximately $11.50 hourly. The median pay for retail managers holds at $44,000 annually.

Industry Outlook: Job opportunities experience a growth of roughly 7.6% by 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Large sales events such as Labor Day weekend and Black Friday drive up sales in the field, and as the housing market continues to recover, people desire new fixtures for new or renovated homes. With almost 26,000 businesses and over 300,000 employees, the home furnishings industry shows great promise as a field for qualified entry-level job seekers.

Home Furnishings Store Job Descriptions

Store Sales Associate – Individuals who work in home furnishings stores stand required to possess skills beyond most retail professions. While customer service skills and an aptitude for sales still remains a necessity, store associates should cultivate a working knowledge of the available products in order to assist customers sufficiently. Staying up to date on various industry trends and understanding different decor styles also allows sales associates to perform with efficiency. Though qualifications often depend on the specific store, many home goods outlets require potential sales associates stand at least 18 years of age. Store sales associates make an average of $10.00 to $11.00 an hour.

Interior Designers – Usually highly creative and visual individuals, interior designers toy with the latest trends in home furnishings to create interesting and aesthetically pleasing rooms. Interior designers may choose to dabble in all variations of the field or specialize in types of buildings, specific rooms, or even styles, like sustainable interior designers who use only environmentally friendly materials. Duties of an interior designer may include bidding on and securing new projects, studying and considering how to use the space, sketching building plans, deciding on and ordering materials, and creating a project timeline for contractors. Computer software often aids in the creation of design plans, so interior designers should remain familiar with the latest technology and possess some computer skills. Individuals in the profession make an average salary of $48,000 per year, and job hopefuls should typically hold at least a bachelor’s degree in interior design or a related field. To receive licensure, interior designers must pass the National Council for Interior Design Qualification exam.

How to Become an Interior Designer