Martha, in pumps, gave High Point market a boost
Furniture Sketchbook column
David Perry -- Furniture Today, November 7, 2005
Martha was in High Point last month. Some of my Furniture/Today colleagues were lucky enough to see her. Sadly, I had other duties that night.
I’m not being cute here. I really would enjoy meeting Martha Stewart. Hobnobbing with celebrities – Vanna White, where are you? - is one of the best perks of my job. Say what you will about Martha, but you have to admit she’s one of the most famous ladies on the planet.
I was reminded of Martha’s market trip the other day by a story in the Greensboro News & Record. “Stewart lends star power to High Point,” the story was headlined. It was written by a Washington Post writer, and was circulated far and wide by that newspaper’s powerful news service.
As that story, which ran more than two weeks after market ended, illustrates, Martha’s quick trip to High Point is not yet old news. As High Point market coverage filters out to media outlets around the world, Martha will make more headlines.
We covered her visit to market in one of our daily issues. We ran two pictures, one showing her with executives of the International Home Furnishings Center, which was smart to host an event for her, and the other showing her with a group of retailers. Our story noted that Martha was in the Bernhardt showroom during the day, promoting her new Opal Point Collection.
But the Washington Post story added some important new information that we somehow missed. The Post writer noted that Stewart “strode in looking lean in her taupe Yves Saint Laurent pantsuit and towering Hermes pumps.”
Those are the sorts of details your big-city consumer journalists are sure to notice. We trade journalist types can only hope that someday we will learn the difference between Hermes pumps and gas pumps. But I digress…
It is a good thing for Bernhardt and the market that Martha was in town. And it would be a great thing if Martha could film one of her television shows at the market. We would love to see an episode of “The Apprentice: Martha Stewart” devoted to a market assignment.
I caught an episode of that show the other night, and it gave me an idea for giving the High Point market a lift. After someone gets booted off of her show, she writes the person a farewell note. Wouldn’t it be fun if Martha wrote personal notes to some of the retailers who skipped the High Point market? Martha’s impeccable manners and her star power would be a powerful one-two punch.
Her letters would create plenty of media buzz and retailers would love to hear from her. All of that would be a good thing, as Martha would say.
If she really wanted to pull out all the stops, she could include a recipe or two.
