Stanley Furniture's boss said Tuesday that the company, an importer and manufacturer of wood furniture, cannot force consumers to stride through retailers' doors.

And many furniture retailers, Stanley's customers, are beginning to feel lonelier than the proverbial Maytag repairman.

Furniture Today reported Tuesday, for example, that retailer Nationwide Mattress and Furniture Warehouse is set for liquidation.

"We cannot stimulate demand [for furniture]," said Jeffrey Scheffer, president and chief executive officer of Henry County-based Stanley Furniture Corp.

Market conditions have been tough for the furniture industry in recent years and are likely to remain so throughout 2008, Scheffer said. His remarks came Tuesday morning during a conference call with investment analysts about Stanley Furniture's earnings for its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2007.

Scheffer said "we now find ourselves mired in the longest and deepest furniture recession in a generation."

For fiscal 2007, Stanley's sales declined 8 percent to $282.8 million. Stanley Furniture made money in 2007, but a lot less than during 2006. Specifically, profit fell 65 percent to $5.9 million. Earnings per share declined to 55 cents, from $1.41 the previous year.

Nationally, furniture sales have been affected by the housing slump, sagging consumer confidence, rising prices at the gas pump and other factors.

In this environment, Scheffer said, Stanley Furniture can control costs and distinguish itself by offering quality and attractive furniture and timely delivery. And Stanley, which has pared down domestic production but, unlike some domestic competitors, still has factories in the United States, should be well positioned to seize the day when market conditions improve, he said.

Stanley Furniture's fourth-quarter results benefited from federal support in the amount of $10.4 million -- duties collected from Chinese manufacturers of wooden bedroom furniture determined to have "dumped" their goods into U.S. markets at an unfair price.

During fiscal 2007, Stanley Furniture's conversion of a factory to a warehouse and the company's distribution of assets from a terminated defined pension plan resulted in charges against earnings.

For 2008, Scheffer said, market conditions might get modestly worse before they get better. But he said the prolonged sales slump could create pent-up demand that will eventually rise above the mire.

On Tuesday, the price of Stanley stock, which trades on the Nasdaq exchange, closed at $13.59, up 96 cents.