HPMA: Premarket Will Be "Largest Yet"

March 1, 2010  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on March 2, 2010

With two weeks still to go until the actual event, buyer registration for Spring Premarket 2010 has already surpassed all prior events since Premarket was re-envisioned nearly three years ago, according to the High Point Market Authority.

With 161 leading buyers representing 70 companies already signed on for Spring Premarket set for March 15-16, anticipation is building and attitudes are upbeat.

"Buyers continue to pre-register to attend Premarket almost daily," said Brian D. Casey, president and chief executive officer of the High Point Market Authority, who acts as spokesperson for the special event's sponsors. "Yet the buyer response to date has already made it clear that the economy, and our industry, is turning a corner."

"The response we have received from retailers this season is energizing for all of the companies involved in the Premarket movement," says Kevin O€™Connor, chief executive of Samson Marketing, parent company of Legacy Classic and Universal Furniture. "While the past 18 months have been difficult for everyone in the industry, all indications are that we're finally on the road to recovery. At the same time, the challenges many companies experienced during this time have driven home the importance of close collaboration between manufacturers and retailers. Those of us involved in Premarket believe that one of the best ways to move our industry ahead, to meet the needs of today's consumers, and in fact to excite consumers about what we do as an industry is to work together to reform inefficient product development processes. Premarket is enabling buyers and sellers to move forward together, confident in a product's eventual success on retail floors."

Casey added that retailers' positive response to Premarket bodes well for Spring Market one month later.

"Buyers are confirming what analysts and forecasters had already anticipated," he said. "Store floors have been largely starved for new merchandise and retailers now are on the hunt: They are looking for fresh and exciting products to lure consumers back through their doors and they are looking to High Point for the most important introductions, and the products that have never been seen anywhere previously. Those buyers who have committed to attending Premarket will simply have had the extra advantage of seeing it all first."