Big-hitters out in force for market
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, September 23, 2001
HIGH POINT — Big furniture retailers are overwhelmingly committed to attending the October market in full force, a Furniture/Today sampling indicates.
All 17 Top 100 furniture store chains contacted last week said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will not dissuade them from coming to High Point.
Meanwhile, hotel room cancellations in the High Point area are running about even with last October, according to Charlotte Young, president and chief executive officer of the High Point Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Room reservations at a group of hotels were down somewhat even before the attacks, she said.
"We would be kidding ourselves if we said the events (of Sept. 11) might not have an effect on our market," said Judy Mendenhall, president of the International Home Furnishings Market Authority.
But the big-hitters remain resolute about coming to market.
"Will these senseless acts keep us away from High Point? Not a chance!" said Don Marks, president of Mulberry, Fla.-based W.S. Badcock.
"We typically take 14 people and we will have 14 people at this market," he said. "For us to do anything else would allow the terrorists to win."
Melvyn Wolff, chief executive officer of Star Furniture in Houston, said, "We plan on being at the High Point market as aggressively as ever. We're not anticipating any cutback in our plans to either travel or in the amount of buying we intend to do."
One retailer said this market could be more important than usual because premarket ground to a halt after the Sept. 11 attacks.
"Normally, by the end of premarket, we have a fairly good idea" of what Jordan's will be buying, said Tony Moretti, vice president of merchandising for the Avon, Mass.-based retailer. "A lot of product I didn't even get to see (at premarket).... I think (this market) is going to become more important."
Other top retailers who confirmed plans to attend in full force included Rooms To Go, Havertys, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Raymour & Flanigan, American Furniture Warehouse, Rhodes and Value City.
That's not to say everyone is coming. Drexel Heritage President Dan Grow hasn't heard of a lot of dealer cancellations but he expects some, especially if there's a U.S. military counterstrike before market.
"My expectation is that attendance is definitely going to be down, but to what extent I'm not sure," he said.
Editor in Chief Ray Allegrezza and News Editor Jay McIntosh contributed to this story.
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