HIGH POINT - U.S. furniture and bedding sales will decline another 2% in 2009 after falling 9.3% in 2008, according to Furniture/Today's new consensus forecast for the industry.

The consensus: another down year for furniture stores, with sales slipping another 6.1% before making a modest gain in 2010. Overall consumer spending for furniture in bedding through all retail channels is projected to fare somewhat better, dipping only 2.0% in '09, on the heels of an estimated 9.3% decline in 2008.

Business is expected to remain weak in the current quarter but will recover to a more normal level as the year progresses, according to analysts and industry experts.However, predictions on when a recovery might actually take hold range from the first quarter of this year to the fourth quarter.

In 2008, a disastrous second half sent U.S. consumer spending on furniture and bedding down an estimated 9.3%. Business was off an estimated 28% in the fourth quarter alone.

Furniture store sales are estimated to have declined even more sharply than total consumer spending in 2008, sinking by 11.4%. Furniture stores are believed to have lost some market share to discount stores like Wal-Mart and to alternative channels such as online vendors or TV shopping shows.