), Brian D. Casey, president and chief executive officer of the High Point Market Authority, reports that 77,705 home furnishings professionals registered for Spring Market. Of these registrants, 59 percent (46,087 people), were buyers.
"When it came time to freshen their floors, thousands of buyers and designers looked to the one place universally recognized as our industry’s center of innovation for the most fashion-forward thinking in more than 60 categories of home furnishings products," Casey says. "These home furnishings professionals chose the High Point Market as their launch pad for success this Spring because they knew that they would find more new product here than at any other Market."
According to Casey, of particular note, nearly 3,500 buyers who had not registered to attend in at least three Markets returned to High Point this Spring. "We also continue to attract new visitors to Market," Casey describes. "Of the 15,306 designers shopping our Market, 2,503 did so for the first time ever. In all, we welcomed some 7,605 buyers who had never visited High Point before."
A renewed sense of vibrancy was evident in showrooms and at events across the Market throughout the week. "Educational seminars, such as the Design ViewPoints Lecture Series we co-sponsored with the American Society of Interior Designers were sold out each day," Casey notes, "while jam-packed entertainment and networking events helped fuel the feeling that our industry is finally on the rebound. It was clear that buyers came here to participate, recharge their imaginations and identify the trends and ideas that will capture the consumer’s interest in the coming months. They came for the opportunity to share ideas with friends old and new, industry icons and up-and-comers."
Indeed, Casey says his goal is to continually nurture the great sense of community that pervades the Market. "The High Point Market is the one place where our entire industry comes together and we want to doing everything we can to facilitate that. Through our Hotel Partner Program, for example, we’ve made great strides in the past two years to ease the economic pressure on those traveling to Market. And we are already working to ensure the best rates possible for our Market guests when they return this Fall. While we’re proud that the High Point Market has turned a corner we believe that we have to work harder than ever to raise the bar, and move the Market, and our industry, forward."