Both High Point, Las Vegas shows offer value to industry
Jerry Epperson -- Furniture Today, March 8, 2010
It is time to stop the bickering and recognize that both High Point and Las Vegas have roles to play in our industry.
The recent Las Vegas Market was upbeat and well attended, given our current economy, and a nice recovery from the ill-timed September show. It will always have a number of the larger retailers attend because it has created the mattress show, and as we all know, mattresses continue to be the most profitable sale on the retail floor.
Las Vegas is a fun city to visit, with great hotels and restaurants, and that has been a huge benefit. Unfortunately, it is in the middle of three of the hardest-hit states in this recession — California, Arizona and Nevada — so that has likely impacted local traffic. To offset this, the World Market Center has been generous in helping some retailers with their travel expenses.
It also is easy to shop, with attractively arranged state-of-the-art showroom buildings. Yes, they are overbuilt for now, but Las Vegas always planned to serve several business segments, not just furniture, mattresses and decorative accessories. Longer-term it might evolve to be more like Atlanta or the Dallas market back in the 1980s, offering important shows for gifts, seasonal goods, floor coverings, toys and other merchandise categories.
Las Vegas does not have the breadth of furniture offered by High Point, but it does cover the middle market well.
In contrast, High Point and Tupelo are furniture shows and do not try to do otherwise. The soup-to-nuts (or footstool to massive breakfront) nature of the High Point Market is also its strength, even though few retailers are going to carry $299 and $14,000 sofas in the same store. In our last retail price point study, we showed recliners in fabric retailing from $199 to $5,200; bedrooms from $299 to $61,650; and formal dining from $799 to $110,000. Imagine.
High Point, while not as efficient to shop, is certainly comfortable and established, and most of us are accustomed to our accommodations. Even a porker like me has never missed finding good food.
To its credit, the High Point Market has improved in recent years in many ways, due in part to the Las Vegas Market, and in some ways is stronger. Of course, old-timers like me remember visiting showrooms in Hickory, Lenoir, Lexington, and Asheboro every market. Remember the lunches at Hickory Chair and Bernhardt? Yumm.
These days having the High Point Market all in a small radius has helped.
Everyone hopes the “we will bury you” attitude is gone and the industry can grow and recover using the strengths all of the markets offer. Can't we all just get along?
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