Our Pro Tips for Visiting High Point Market

1.  INTRO

We owe much of our success as Designers to the fact that we make a commitment every year (and many times twice a year) to invest our time and travel funds to the High Point Furniture Market. It is here that we have created literally hundreds of relationships with manufacturers, artisans, a long list of leaders in our industry and of course our peers.

With 12 million square feet of show space spanning over 180 buildings, High Point Market is the largest home furnishings trade show in the world. It brings more than 75,000 people to High Point, N.C., every six months to view product from more than 2,000 exhibitors.

Registration for the Fall Show just opened on July 16th so we thought it was perfect timing to share our pro tips on how to navigate High Point Market. We consider ourselves pros because Joann has been visiting the market for 25 year and Kelly for 14 years. Let’s start with some basics and then we will get into some juicy tips from our personal experience.

2.  WHEN IS IT?

High Point market is in the Spring and the Fall. So the upcoming show is October 19-23rd.

As we said registration just opened and planning early is the biggest tip we can give you. Early means RIGHT NOW.

Register in advance to get your pass in the mail and avoid lines when you get there. Believe us, don’t stand or wait around anymore than you need to. Registration just opened at www.highpointmarket.org/register.

Check out the Plan Your Trip portion of highpointmarket.org for tips and tricks you might not hear from us. Also visit the pre-planning to watch a new video series on trip planning which just launched July 15!

Use MyMarket on your desktop and in the High Point Market app to keep track of the exhibitors and events you want on your Market schedule.

3.  WHERE DO I STAY?

There are lots of places to stay but they fill up quickly so literally, if you are planning to go to the upcoming show, book your hotel the second you finish listening to this podcast.

A.     Greensboro:

1.     One of our favorites is The Proximity Hotel. Get on the waiting list now and you might have a chance next year.

2.     O’Henry hotel

B.     High Point

1.     Red Lion – Tips on how to get in.

2.     J.H. Adams Inn

3.     Pandora’s Manor Bed & Breakfast

C.     Air BnB/VRBO

4.  WHERE DO I EAT?

A.     Showrooms – Check out the schedule at your favorite showrooms.

a.      Theodore Alexander

b.     Lee

c.      Natural Light

d.     Uttermost

e.      Left Bank Art

f.       Rowe

g.      Lexington

h.     Vanguard

B.     Out on the Town

a.      Saigon – Greensboro

b.     The Parsons Table

c.      The Doghouse

d.     Simply Thai (half way between High Point and Greensboro)

5.  HOW TO GET AROUND – PLAN YOU ENTIRE TRIP

A.     How we do it –

a.      No appointments except for our top 4 – everybody does it differently

b.     Arrange the top 75 showrooms we want to go to by building and alphabetically – laminate!

c.      Arrange our days by quadrants

a.     IHFC (save this for rainy days) & Showplace

b.     Market Suite/C&D building

c.     Hamilton Wren/ 200 Steele area

d.     Save your feet any chance you can

a.     Go Anywhere Bus

b.     Pedi cabs

c.     Manufacturers rides – Lexington/Theodore Alexander

e.      Map out your meals – watch your emails the month before (SELL OUR LIST 2 WEEKS BEFORE MARKET FOR $25??)

f.       Starting October 19th – November 3rd – Take a detour to visit the High Point Designers’ Show House at the Dalton-Bell-Cameron House. Sponsored by Aspire Design and Home and the Jr. League of High Point.

g.      Bienenstock Furniture Library – N. Main, High Point – One of the few, if not only places in the world where design professionals can put on white gloves and examine original works of pioneer designers. Over 5,000 volumes – the largest furniture specialty library in the world.

6.  WHAT TO WEAR – OPEN DISCUSSION

7.  SIT BACK, RELAX AND LEARN

High Point Theatre and various seminar rooms – discussions on social media, PR, advice from experts on best business practices, trends

8.  PARTY ON!

Stayed tuned for our podcast on sept. 25th to hear all about the parties we will be going to. – the new live event calender put on my HPMA going live in early august.

9.  DID YOU KNOW?

a.     The amount of showroom space at HPM is equal to 201 football fields.

b.     In an average market, the HP transportation system takes over 150,000 trips.

c.     The construction that occurs in the IHFC building alone each year is equal to building 1,200 single family homes.

d.     The City of HP recycles over 500 tons of cardboard each market.

10.  STAY TUNED

The What’s new section of the HPMA website will go live the week of labor day, bringing you new product images, showroom news, launches and debuts.   We will be back for part 2 of Inside design on 9/25 to tell you how our plans are coming along.