Overstock CEO spots post-pandemic ‘secular shift’ from brick and mortar to online furniture shopping

Overstock.com CEO sees sale momentum from the COVID migration

Overstock.com CEO Jonathan Johnson claimed a booming real estate market and increase in residential moves have helped keep the company profitable throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

Johnson said on FOX Business' "Varney & Co." Wednesday that Overstock, which sells a variety of furniture and home goods, saw a strong shift in online sales over the past year.

"There's been a secular shift from home furnishing, buying brick and mortar, to online," Johnson told host Ashley Webster. "The same thing that happened with books two decades ago and clothing a decade ago has now happened in the home furnishings market, and that bodes well, we think, for Overstock."

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A recent study found that pandemic closures had accelerated residential moves across the U.S., with states like Texas and Florida experiencing the highest relocation rates.

Low mortgage interest rates, strong demand and a limited housing supply have caused home prices, and sales, to skyrocket. Through the fourth quarter of 2020, every major metro tracked by the National Association of Realtors saw home prices increase from the previous year, with 88% of metro areas seeing double-digit price increases.

Overstock is currently listed in 31 hedge fund portfolios with their stock value up nearly 85% from last year.

Johnson said he doesn’t expect the momentum to slow down anytime soon despite worldwide supply chain issues and shipping delays.

"It's really become the cost of containers as goods are coming into the country," Johnson explained. "Our suppliers have done a fairly good job of dealing with that."

FOX Business’ Josephine Nesbit contributed to this report.

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