“We are in a better position with our in-store product as we start this year, compared to the tariff-impacted situation in the first half of 2019,” he said, noting that Havertys built up inventory of a lot of best-sellers prior to the Lunar New Year.

But the coronavirus could cause some problems as early as the second quarter. Inventories are in good shape now. “And the factories are starting back up. But we are already seeing some of the supplies that (producers) need and have been getting from China are going to be delayed, which will slow down shipment of product,” Smith said in response to a question about the virus impact.

“Our merchandising and supply chain teams are closely watching the impact of the delayed opening of Chinese factories,” he said in prepared remarks. “We expect to have some product shipment delays, which could affect stock availability in the second quarter. We’re in constant contact with all of our key suppliers and factories to make sure that we have our best-selling goods flowing. Our key sourcing team members are traveling later this week to our Vietnamese factories.”

With Tempur-Pedic and Mattress Firm back together, will Havertys’ bedding business suffer? Smith essentially said, no, in response to an analyst question about the impact of this renewed relationship. “The mattress business was really good for us in 2019, and we expect it to be good in 2020,” he said. Sure, Tempur and Firm are back in bed after their earlier falling out, but “we built a really good reputation of being the place to go for that,” he said. “They (Mattress Firm) will get some business. They’ll push it,” but Smith added he’s not worried about it.

“We have got several brands that are important to us, including Beautyrest and Stearns & Foster and other lines. I don’t see that we would have a decrease in that particular category. We compete very aggressively with anybody selling mattresses against us, so we don’t expect to lose share.”