With less than two weeks still to go until the actual event, HPMA announced that buyer registration for Spring Pre-Market 2010 has already surpassed all prior events since Pre-Market was re-envisioned nearly three years ago.
 
With 161 leading buyers representing 70 companies already signed on for Spring Pre-Market set for March 15 to 16, anticipation is building and attitudes are upbeat. “Buyers continue to pre-register to attend Pre-Market almost daily,” says Brian D. Casey, president and chief executive officer of the High Point Market Authority, who acts as spokesperson for the special event’s sponsors. “Yet the buyer response to date has already made it clear that the economy, and our industry, is turning a corner.”
 
“The response we have received from retailers this season is energizing for all of the companies involved in the Pre-Market movement,” says Kevin O’Connor, chief executive of Samson Marketing, parent company of Legacy Classic and Universal Furniture. “While the past 18 months have been difficult for everyone in the industry, all indications are that we’re finally on the road to recovery. At the same time, the challenges many companies experienced during this time have driven home the importance of close collaboration between manufacturers and retailers. Those of us involved in Pre-Market believe that one of the best ways to move our industry ahead, to meet the needs of today’s consumers, and in fact to excite consumers about what we do as an industry is to work together to reform inefficient product development processes. Pre-Market is enabling buyers and sellers to move forward together, confident in a product’s eventual success on retail floors.”
 
Additionally, says Casey, retailers’ positive response to Pre-Market bodes well for Spring Market one month later. “Buyers are confirming what analysts and forecasters had already anticipated. Store floors have been largely starved for new merchandise and retailers now are on the hunt: They are looking for fresh and exciting products to lure consumers back through their doors and they are looking to High Point for the most important introductions, and the products that have never been seen anywhere previously. Those buyers who have committed to attending Pre-Market will simply have had the extra advantage of seeing it all first.”  
 
The High Point Market Authority is the official sponsor of the High Point Market in High Point, North Carolina. Featuring an extensive selection of exhibitors spanning every category, style and price point and attracting thousands of visitors from more than 110 countries twice each year, the High Point Market is the driving force of the home furnishings industry.