Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial kickoff of summer — and one of the biggest selling events of the year for furniture and mattress retailers. In this edition, we analyze how both industries performed over Memorial Day 2026 compared to the previous year.
This year’s data tells a story we haven’t seen before: the weekend moved. While Friday through Sunday softened across both categories, Memorial Day Monday surged to become the top revenue day for furniture and mattress retailers alike. Shoppers showed up later, in smaller numbers, and with more intent than ever.
Join us as we break down the numbers day by day, highlighting the key trends and insights that emerged — and what they mean for how you staff, promote, and sell during the next big holiday weekend.
Furniture Industry
Foot Traffic
Foot traffic to furniture stores over Memorial Day weekend declined again in 2026 compared to the previous year, with fewer opportunities recorded on every day except Monday’s strong relative showing.
Saturday remained the highest-traffic day, falling from 52 visits to 23, with Friday and Sunday seeing similar declines. The clear bright spot was Monday: at 23 visits, Memorial Day itself tied Saturday as the busiest day of the weekend — a notable shift from prior years, when Monday trailed the pack.
Average Ticket
Average order value gave back last year’s gains, declining 13.7% across the weekend compared to Memorial Day 2025:
- Friday: Down 17.9% from $2,606 to $2,139
- Saturday: Fell 15.5% from $2,735 to $2,311
- Sunday: Slipped 8.3% from $2,646 to $2,426
- Monday: Declined 12.9% from $2,572 to $2,241
Sunday held up best, posting the weekend’s highest average ticket at $2,426. With promotional pressure heavy across the holiday, protecting ticket size through attachment selling and premium upgrades was the difference-maker for top performers.
Daily Revenue
Lower traffic and smaller tickets pulled furniture revenue down 9.0% over Memorial Day 2026. But the daily pattern tells a more interesting story than the topline:
- Friday sales fell 27.4% to $20,168
- Saturday declined 9.8% to $27,869
- Sunday dropped 19.9% to $22,354
- Monday surged 22.9% to $32,319 — the biggest revenue day of the weekend
For the first time in recent memory, Monday outsold Saturday. Memorial Day itself generated nearly a third of the weekend’s furniture revenue, rewarding retailers who kept full floor coverage through the holiday close.
Sales Conversion
Conversion was the furniture industry’s standout metric in 2026. With fewer shoppers walking through the door, the ones who did show up were serious buyers — and stores closed them at a dramatically higher rate than the low-to-mid 30s recorded in 2025:
- Friday: 57%
- Saturday: 54%
- Sunday: 51%
- Monday: 59% — the weekend’s best
Monday paired the weekend’s highest traffic with its highest conversion rate, a combination that explains its record revenue. Sunday was the soft spot at 51%; with traffic this scarce, every missed greeting and unworked be-back is measurably more expensive than it was a year ago.
Mattress Industry
Foot Traffic
The mattress industry saw foot traffic decline 10.7% over Memorial Day 2026 compared to 2025.
Saturday — historically the category’s peak day — took the biggest hit, dropping 30% from 10 visits to 7. Friday and Sunday also softened, falling from 6 to 5 and 7 to 6 respectively.
Monday was the exception, jumping 40% from 5 visits to 7 and tying Saturday as the busiest day of the weekend. Just like furniture, mattress demand shifted later — Memorial Day itself became the traffic event.
Average Ticket
Average ticket was the mattress industry’s biggest challenge in 2026, falling 21.6% from last year’s strong levels:
- Friday: Down 28.4% from $2,381 to $1,706
- Saturday: Fell 31.1% from $2,617 to $1,802
- Sunday: Held nearly flat, down just 2.1% from $2,508 to $2,456
- Monday: Declined 24.8% from $2,415 to $1,816
Sunday was the clear outlier, essentially matching last year’s figure and beating every other day of the weekend by more than $600. Heavy holiday discounting appears to have compressed tickets on the highest-promotion days, while Sunday’s shoppers traded up.
Daily Revenue
Softer traffic and smaller tickets pushed mattress revenue down 15.1% over Memorial Day 2026. The day-by-day split mirrors the furniture story — weak front half, strong finish:
- Friday sales fell 38.2% from $5,812 to $3,594
- Saturday dropped 33.5% from $7,536 to $5,010
- Sunday held firm, down just 6.6% from $6,618 to $6,184
- Monday jumped 26.0% from $5,274 to $6,647 — the top revenue day of the weekend
Monday’s gain came from both sides of the equation: 40% more traffic and a solid close rate. Saturday, the traditional anchor of mattress Memorial Day sales, surrendered its crown to the holiday itself.
Conversion Rate
The mattress industry’s conversion rate stepped back from 2025’s elevated levels, settling in the mid-50s:
- Friday: 59%
- Saturday: 52%
- Sunday: 59%
- Monday: 55%
Notably, Saturday — the highest-conversion day in both 2024 and 2025 — posted the weekend’s lowest rate at 52%. Friday and Sunday tied for the top spot at 59%. With Saturday still drawing meaningful traffic, closing the gap between its 52% and the 59% achieved on lighter days represents the category’s clearest near-term opportunity.
Conclusion
Over Memorial Day 2026, the furniture industry outperformed the mattress industry — a reversal of last year’s result — thanks to:
- A smaller revenue decline (−9.0% vs −15.1%)
- A more modest average ticket pullback (−13.7% vs −21.6%)
- Exceptional conversion performance, with serious shoppers closing at 51–59% across the weekend
The mattress industry felt pressure on every front — fewer opportunities, heavy ticket compression on its biggest promotional days, and a conversion rate that stepped back from 2025’s elevated levels. Sunday was the category’s lone bright spot, holding both ticket and revenue nearly flat.
But the defining trend of 2026 cut across both industries: Memorial Day Monday became the main event. Monday delivered the weekend’s top revenue in both categories — up 22.9% for furniture and 26.0% for mattress — while tying for the highest traffic of the weekend in both. The traditional Saturday peak, the anchor of holiday weekend selling for years, gave up its crown.
