Market dates changing
High Point back to April, October
By Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, May 21, 2007
High Point — Reversing a controversial decision made nearly two years ago, the High Point Market Authority's board of directors last week voted to return to the market's traditional April and October schedule beginning in 2008.
The board, however, opted to keep the Monday-through-Sunday format implemented in 2006.
The date change, adopted unanimously, was made after board members spent nearly an hour in a closed session to discuss the results of market research conducted by Exhibit Surveys, a New Jersey research firm that specializes in trade shows and exhibitions.
Market Authority President Brian Casey said the research clearly showed that buyers, exhibitors and sales representatives all preferred the April and October dates.
"We continue to make decisions based on what the majority of our customers are telling us," Casey said. "We are very confident that the results of the surveys are reflective of the market's large and diverse constituency."
The board didn't adopt specific dates, but Casey said the Market Authority would publish a new 10-year market calendar around June 1. Before the dates are finalized, he said the organization will meet with local religious leaders to minimize scheduling conflicts with religious holidays.
The dates for the upcoming fall market, Oct. 1–7, remain unchanged.
Last week's vote reversed a decision made in the fall of 2005 to shift the market's dates to late March and late September or early October.
The most recent market, March 26–April 1, was the first staged under that system, and a number of attendees complained about the timing. Some were upset that the March dates conflicted with spring break for many schools, and others didn't like the fact that the show started only seven weeks after the conclusion of the winter Las Vegas Market.
Still others were upset that the market began on a Monday instead of the Thursday opening day that had been in use for decades. However, Casey recommended that the board stick with the Monday-through-Sunday format because only 18% of those surveyed preferred the Thursday start.
He said 42% of respondents preferred the Monday-through-Sunday schedule.
Survey respondents were more definitive about which months of the year they preferred. Buyers, for example, preferred April over March by a 51% to 30% margin, while exhibitors had the same preference by 58% to 19%. Sales reps, meanwhile, preferred April over March by a 49% to 28% spread.
The results were similar for the fall market dates. Buyers preferred October over September by a 57% to 33% margin, while exhibitors voted for October by a 59% to 18% margin. Sales reps said they preferred October over September by a 47% to 30% spread.
Officials at Exhibit Surveys said 12,542 people were contacted and 2,068 responded to the survey. The 16.5% response rate was about double the rate the company usually sees in similar surveys, said Skip Cox, president and CEO of the firm.
Respondents consisted of 1,652 buyers, 202 exhibitors and 214 sales reps.
He said the margin of error on the buyers' survey was plus or minus 2%, while the margin on the exhibitors and sales rep groups was plus or minus 7%.
