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Tom Russell

Mr. Casey goes to Shanghai

Brian Casey doesn’t plan to promote the High Point Market only from behind the desk of his office in downtown High Point. The president of the High Point Market Authority made that clear last month by visiting the Furniture China fair in Shanghai.

At 2.5 million square feet, the show is one of the largest furniture shows in China — and the world. Given his key role in the industry, Casey felt it was important that he make an appearance there.

In fact, his visit was treated as an important event by sponsors of the show, which ran Sept. 11-14. Not only does Casey represent the largest home furnishings trade show in the world, he’s also the first Market Authority staffer to attend the Shanghai market.

Current Market Authority staff members, including Tammy Covington, have been to shows in Cologne, Germany, and Brazil in the past several years. But this was the first time the authority’s leader had been to the show in Shanghai.

Casey had a few goals in mind when making the 14-plus hour plane trip from High Point to Shanghai. First, he wanted to get an up-close look at one of the major China markets. After all, some of the exhibitors make product seen in High Point showrooms.

But even more importantly, he wanted to establish relationships with key individuals and groups he believes can “be some good partners with and have a positive impact on the High Point market.” That includes anyone from show organizers and exhibitors to trade press and associations that could generate some publicity and increased buyer attendance for High Point.

“I don’t view the market as either exhibitors or buyers,” he said. “I view the market as a holistic representation of the industry. One element doesn’t work without the other.”

The Market Authority had a booth at Shanghai, but more often than not, Casey was out walking the show, visiting with companies that may one day come to High Point. He even took part in the show’s opening ceremonies, where he was treated as a guest of honor.

“I was told that there was a lot of relevance and importance to my being there,” Casey said, noting his appearance created a lot of visibility internationally for High Point. “It was nice to feel that welcomed there.

“That helped promote our market in a much stronger fashion internationally,” he added. “We are an international market, so having a presence (in Shanghai) helps solidify our efforts to expand our presence globally.”

Casey was not the only High Point market official at the Shanghai show. Tom Lindh, president and CEO of the International Home Furnishings Center, and his director of marketing and leasing, Tom Loney, were there, as was Tom Mitchell, senior vice president and general manager of Merchandise Mart Properties’ High Point operations.

It was the second trip to Shanghai for the IHFC executives and the first for Mitchell, who has attended other shows in China. Like Casey, they wanted to keep abreast of what is taking place in the global furniture arena, and develop relationships — and prospects — that could help strengthen High Point.

“We can’t afford not to be familiar with them and their products,” Lindh said, adding that such visits also help officials determine how international exhibitors might ultimately fit into High Point’s market.

“We always go to as many shows as we can to find new resources and stay on top of what’s going on,” said Mitchell, who attends a dozen or more international shows a year. He noted that these visits also help develop relationships with other show organizers, who work together on marketing opportunities that help expand each other’s presence in respective markets.

While it was his first visit to China, Casey plans to return to Shanghai and likely will attend other China shows.

“China is a big country,” Casey said. “We will study this further and find out if there are other regions or shows that make sense (for us to attend). They have to make sense from the standpoint that it yields results for us.”

Along with attracting potential exhibitors and buyers to High Point, Casey said the visits may help identify businesses that want to set up operations in the High Point area.

“You want to stay close to those potential opportunities and encourage them to do it in the Triad region where it makes sense, because that helps support the efforts to strengthen the High Point market,” he said.