High Point – The Furniture Mecca

April 18, 2012

The centre of the furniture world is in High Point, North Carolina. In October and March each year, Luxe owners, Darren and Scott, travel to High Point in search of the latest in designs and trends to bring back to Victoria. With over 2,000 exhibitors, from 106 countries, encompassing more than 10 million square feet! in 180 buildings Darren and Scott scour the market for just the right pieces to bring back to Luxe.

The two are among 80,000 other buyers from around the world, making the market the largest home furnishings trade show in the world. Needless to say “if you can’t find it in High Point…it probably doesn’t exist.” Follow Darren, Scott and Luxe designer, Elaine Balkwill, on Facebook and Twitter from April 20 to 25 during their High Point shopping spree.

History

The first formal Southern Furniture Market was held in High Point, North Carolina in 1909 and provided the region’s furniture makers and retailers a convenient location to conduct business. The Southern Furniture Exposition Building opened for its first show on June 20, 1921. The showroom cost about $1 million and held 249,000 square feet of exhibition space.

The founding members had lofty visions and endeavoured to make The Southern Furniture Market “The Furniture City of the world.” By 1921, it had established itself as a significant fixture in the American home furnishings industry. The Market grew and expanded from the late 1940’s through the 1980’s, and just as the founding members envisioned, it became the furniture capital of the world. The Southern Furniture Market renamed itself in 2007. That year, more than 100 countries were represented at the show.