UNITY MARKETING SURVEY: SPENDING ON HOME STALLED IN 2004.

HFN: The Weekly Newspaper for the Home Furnishing Network, January, 2005

STEVENS, Pa.-Consumers bought fewer home goods last year than they did a year before, according to a newly released survey by Unity Marketing.

Evidently, less time is being spent feathering the nest than in clearing it out and organizing it.

"Consumers are downscaling, downsizing and eliminating clutter," said Pam Danziger, author of the study, in a statement. "Touch points of the new consumer trend are magazines like Real Simple, dedicated to doing more with less, and shows like TLC's `Clean Sweep' and HGTV's `Mission: Organization.' "

As a result, consumers spent "dramatically" less on furniture and decorative accents in 2004 than they did in 2003. Danziger said purchase incidence, or the percentage of adult consumers who purchased...