By Dennis Seid
Daily Journal

TUPELO – After experimenting with a January market date that proved less popular than expected, officials with the Tupelo Furniture Market announced Tuesday that the spring market would return to its familiar time slot in February.


“We’re going back to our roots,” said TFM President Bill Cleveland.

The spring market will be Feb. 20-24, he said.
TFM held its first winter market in January, after nearly 20 years of having a spring market in February. But attendance wasn’t as strong as hoped.

While some exhibitors said order-writing was good, many others said they were disappointed with the results.

And that news disappointed market officials, who had moved the date in response to a survey that showed a preference for the January date.

The major reason cited for the January move was to take advantage of the tax season. Proponents of the January date said it allowed smaller retailers to shop the market, something that was harder to do in mid- to late February.

But the flood of buyers didn’t materialize.

Also, some exhibitors said the February dates were better because it allowed them to get fabrics and new merchandise into their showrooms in Tupelo. Others said the January date – which was in front of Las Vegas’ late January winter market – made it too difficult to prepare for both markets.
Heeding those calls, TFM officials went back to the February dates.

“We’re listening to our customers and what they want to do,” Cleveland said.

“We know we can’t make everybody happy, but we’re trying to do what will benefit the most.” 

Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 8/15/2014, section 0 , page 0