Venue: High Point, North Carolina
The High Point Market: The World’s Home for Home Furnishings is the largest home furnishings industry trade show in the world, bringing more than 85,000 people from 110 countries to High Point, North Carolina. Twice each year, this city in the southern United States hosts business people responsible for 99 percent of the industry’s total buying power from across the U.S. and around the globe.
Every Spring and Fall, home furnishings retailers and interior designers, manufacturers, suppliers, consultants and industry analysts gather at the High Point Market to participate in the world’s most comprehensive presentation of products, learn about the latest lifestyle trends, find new ideas and fresh inspirations and meet the people who can fuel their business growth.
Encompassing some 12 million square feet of showroom space (in excess of one million square meters), in 180 showroom buildings, the High Point Market features more than 2,600 exhibitors launching tens of thousands of new products in every imaginable home furnishings category. Indeed, the thousands of new products that debut here each season account for more new product introductions than all other home furnishings markets combined.
A driving force in the home furnishings industry, the High Point Market is an international event with a tradition that reaches back more than 100 years. Its location at the heart of the industry makes it unique among major home furnishings trade shows.
As American furniture manufacturers moved to North Carolina at the turn of the 20th century—in search of plentiful wood supplies and a low-cost labor force—they began inviting their retail partners to the City of High Point to see their latest wares. As time passed and the furniture industry expanded, a full complement of supporting suppliers grew up organically around the City of High Point, including manufacturers of upholstery, hardware, fine finishes, cushioning materials and increasingly advanced structural components. In addition, the designers, photographers, printers and media essential to bringing compelling products to the consumer began to locate their operations in and around the region.
Today, High Point is home to the world’s greatest concentration of home furnishings manufacturers and related businesses. The impressive roster of companies generates more than $8.25 billion dollars in total economic impact locally, employs more than 65,000 people, and makes the region a prime location for home furnishings company headquarters, manufacturing and distribution facilities.
The High Point Market offers many onsite amenities, including free admittance to industry professionals; complimentary Market directories; numerous complimentary seminars focused on the latest trends and industry best practices; special entertainment events and social gatherings; complimentary airport shuttles from three airports—Piedmont Triad (GSO), Raleigh (RDU) and Charlotte Douglas (CLT); and free, continuous local shuttle service throughout the Market area. The International Business Center will be staffed with representatives from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Additional information on the High Point Market can be found at the informative, easy-to-use website: www.highpointmarket.org