By Sue Schultz
Harvey Dondero, a former Greensboro resident and former leader of a North Carolina-based furniture


company was named chief executive officer of the World Market Center in Las Vegas late Wednesday.

The Las Vegas furniture show is a growing rival and some say a threat to the High Point Market, which is known as the world’s largest home furnishings market.

World Market Center officials announced at an afternoon groundbreaking for its third showroom building that Dondero would become head of the Vegas market. Dondero is former chief executive officer for Lenoir-based Broyhill Furniture Industries, a subsidiary of Furniture Brands International, one of the nation’s leading furniture makers.

“This is a total paradigm shift,” said Dondero, who was born and raised in Las Vegas, in a news release Wednesday. “The industry’s landscape has changed dramatically in the last couple of decades, and buyers and manufacturers need an entirely new more productive and efficient platform.”

Dondero, a 32-year veteran of the home furnishings industry, resigned from Broyhill in June . Broyhill Furniture has showrooms in both High Point and Las Vegas.

Before his work with Broyhill, Dondero was president and chief executive officer for Universal Furniture Industries, a High Point-based furniture importer. He also led Maitland-Smith , another division of Furniture Brands International.

Although working primarily in the Triad, Dondero has been critical of High Point’s show in recent years. In April, he was skeptical about the m arket a uthority’s report of attendance, saying that traffic to the High Point show had declined.

In a May interview with the News & Record, Dondero said many furniture buyers were “opting to attend the Vegas show, or just not coming to High Point.”

Wednesday night, there seemed to be no fond farewells for the former furniture industry executive.

“I don’t think he’s ever been a part of the High Point show; his comments proved that,” said High Point Mayor Becky Smothers. “His loyalty is west of the Mississippi, and he’s where he belongs.”

One furniture analyst said in an interview Wednesday night that Las Vegas was taking a different approach than High Point.

“They (Las Vegas) put a peer as the captain of the ship, rather than a trade show technician,” said Ivan Cutler, an analyst and industry blogger (www.insidefurniture.com), who attended the Wednesday groundbreaking. “Some (in the industry) ma y interpret that differently.”

Dondero said in a telephone interview Wednesday he sees his position with the World Market Center as being a “supreme spokesman for the consumer,” and said that by hiring him, Las Vegas showed that it wanted the industry’s input.

In a news release, the World Market Center managing partners Jack Kashani and Shawn Samson said, “Harvey’s many years as an exhibitor and buyer give him unique insight as to how we can further enhance our market for the benefit of the industry.”

As the chief executive officer of the World Market Center, Dondero will oversee a

$3 billion project. The second Las Vegas showroom is planned to be opened in January 2014.

The development is expected to span eight showroom buildings with about 12 million square feet by 2015.

Contact Sue Schultz at 883-4422, Ext. 232, or sschultz@news-record.com