Cinde W. Ingram
Many vendors wonder which days will be busiest in their showrooms this week.


As the High Point Market shifted to a Monday-Sunday run, vendors faced uncertainty about when their customers would show up to start shopping.

“I think it’s confusing for everybody,” said Michael Yip, Oriental Accent vice president and general manager. Although the market did not officially open until Monday, Oriental Accent’s showroom was among the large number ready early to welcome buyers who wanted to get started with accessory shopping. Noting some major furniture manufacturers had set up weekend appointments, Yip said if those retail customers ventured into his showroom before the official start, “I’ll never say no.”

Many vendors wondered which days will be busiest in their showrooms this week. Given the new schedule, past patterns no longer apply but old habits die hard.

After hearing speculations about retail attendance, The Bradburn Gallery polled designers and retailers of lighting and furniture.

“We were pretty surprised,” said CEO Bruce Bradburn. “The people we talked to were extremely calm. They said, ‘We’re going to do market like we always do.’ If they came early before, they would come early; if they came late, they would come late. They would stay the same number of days. So we sat back and said, ‘Maybe it’s only the vendors who have a little anxiety.’”

John Haste, Imax Worldwide Imports vice president of sales, reported hearing a mixed bag of comments about the Monday to Sunday schedule. He expected the majority of buyers, especially the Top 100, to have begun shopping no later than today while smaller mom-and-pop stores may wait until later in the week.

 “In our particular case when the opening date was Thursday, we were opening on Monday; the major furniture manufacturers had their people in and we were open so we could take advantage of that — and we were doing good business prior to Thursday,” Haste said. “What I’m curious to see is: Are we going to have the same opportunity for customers in this scenario versus what we’ve had in the past?”

Another question on Haste’s mind is whether Sunday will be a typical last day of market or busier than normal because it falls on a weekend? “There are a lot of questions out there, partly because we’re dealing with a lot of unknowns,” Haste said.

Answers may take a while. 

“We expect traffic patterns to change but it will take a couple of markets before we understand how the new flow affects a change in patterns,” said Sean McFadden, vice president of sales for Interlude Home, which has shown in High Point for about 30 years. “We always get in early to get ready — in early, open late. We’re ready and are maintaining an open mind.”

Paul Knutson of Ancient Mosaics said the Monday opening could have presented problems if product had arrived damaged because factories and trucking companies were closed. “If things had gone wrong, it would have been on Saturday that I would have been dealing with it, but everything went smooth,” Knutson said. “This is a minor point, but now I’m killing two weekends rather than one.”   

Eric Bauer agreed he had heard that comment from other exhibitors he serves through Eric Bauer Marketing. “Ever since the closing of the Hickory Furniture Market, the buyers have demonstrated they wanted to come in early and get started. I know that stores like Robb & Stucky and Rooms To Go are traveling here today,” Bauer said Monday morning. “So all the sudden I’m thinking this may be one of the smartest things that could have possibly happened because the only people who need to change their schedules are exhibitors and reps. It seems to me the buyers need not change their schedule. I’m realizing we may see a kind of quiet Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday but I think there’s a huge opportunity for this market to actually become a vibrant six day market again.”    

Introductions

When asked how changes in the High Point Market schedule affected getting product introductions here on time, most vendors said this market presented few problems because it’s still in mid-October. But the late March start of the next High Point Market will be different.

“This market, we’re under the same production cycle we’re normally in,” Bradburn said. “But next market will be a significant challenge because it will be a shorter period by about three weeks. I think you’ll find a lot of people scrambling, but after that everybody will get adjusted.”

The Bradburn Gallery started preparing for the spring 2014 market immediately after the spring 2013 High Point Market. “In anticipation of having a difficult time doing it in the normal cycle, we’ve already got some of our introductions underway ahead of schedule,” Bradburn said. “It required a change in planning: It’s ‘break the cycle and start a new one.’

“Ultimately, it’s all about product,” Bradburn added. “We’ve got a good array of new products – a lot that is designer oriented. And we have done a significant amount of direct mail contact (for the last three months) to encourage people to be excited and come see us.”

Asked how other trade shows are affecting their introduction schedules, vendors had a range of answers.

“We’ve had to accelerate our whole process,” Allen Robertson, Capel Rugs’ vice president of sales, said of market schedule changes. “We went into Las Vegas in a permanent showroom from the beginning. That was a little different. It gave us an opportunity to open 25 to 50 new dealers we don’t see at other shows, but it made be us more selective in our introductions because of Atlanta and Las Vegas dates being in close proximity. Still High Point is the bell-ringer at this time. High Point is the largest market we do.”

Its large Market Square showroom allows room for Capel to make introductions, present its licensed programs and show many of its more than 5,000 SKUs, Robertson said. Such presentation is difficult for sales reps on the road so, in addition to the major shows, Capel exhibits at a dozen or more regional markets. “Markets are good things for us,” Robertson said.

Lam Lee makes all its product introductions at the High Point Market. “Currently our major showroom and by far the largest dealer attendance and sales volume is at the High Point Market,” said John Reinhardt, vice president of sales and marketing, The Lam Lee Group. “New products are a huge expense in time and money, necessary yes, but they have to be considered in our return on investment. Lam Lee will continue to adjust as needed to maintain our growth and profitability.

“As our home furnishings world continues to evolve, and certain markets gain importance and some lose, we will make the necessary adjustments,” Reinhardt said. “From talking to ours and other sales representatives as well as dealers, there seems to be a heightening of concern that there are too many markets. From a sheer time and expense factor it’s draining the resources and becoming unproductive. How much new product can anyone digest, especially in this economy?”

Interlude’s McFadden said, “High Point is our major show, so we’re not really affected. We introduce product very aggressively at High Point, but it is becoming increasingly more important to beef up mid-year intros to allow for more newness at Las Vegas and Atlanta markets. In terms of numbers and importance, High Point is our big premiere. Our real core customer is in High Point, and we have more space.” He added he thinks the Las Vegas market “offers an incremental opportunity for West Coast” sales.

Oriental Accent’s Yip observed economic indicators for the past few months have improved and expressed optimism about the upcoming market schedule changes. “They gave us a year to prepare for it,” Yip said. “It’s just like you tell a kid to change a habit, and you know there will be some unforeseen things.”

Oriental Accent participates in Atlanta, Dallas and Las Vegas, but limits its product debuts to both High Point markets and the January shows rather than the summer shows, Yip said. If the Spring High Point market moves much earlier, it may require another strategy, he said. “Timing is crucial for everybody,” he said. “If it’s so close to the winter markets, it might change the landscape.”

Retail editor Susan Pyle contributed to this article.