What you see as market hits

I always marvel at the High Point market’s sheer size and scope. Like buyers, we journalists must see as much as possible. No small feat for our feet.

We polled retailers, reps and suppliers about the styles and design trends they believe will be best sellers this market. The informal Internet survey drew responses from some 85 retailers, 89 reps and 85 suppliers.

Casual contemporary headed the list of each group — 42% of buyers said they’d be shopping for casual contemporary, 69% of suppliers said they’d be introducing items in that style, and 73% of reps said that style has been selling well recently.

European traditional was the second-most-mentioned style. Some 22% of retailers said they’d be shopping for furniture with this look, just under 30% of suppliers will show such product, and 24% of reps said the style currently is strong in their markets.

French country wasn’t far behind, at 17%, 15% and 24%, respectively.

Only 7% of reps said that American 18th century furniture is currently strong in their markets. Even so, a much larger percentage of retailers — 17% — will be looking for goods offering this style. They may have to shop a little harder, however, since only 10% of suppliers said they would introduce some products with this look.

A flip-flop seemed to occur with Architectural contemporary style. Here, the 26% of suppliers who intend to introduce products in this style represent a larger group than the 15% of retailers who say they’ll shop for the look. Only 7% of the reps said this style was selling well in their areas.

When discussing English country, retailers and suppliers seemed to be pretty much on the same page. About 13% of suppliers said they would introduce these types of items at market, and 12% of participating retailers said they would be shopping for these goods.

That’s all we have space for here.

I’ll see you at market, and will be happy to tell you the rest of the story!