Report: Home Furnishings Impact On High Point Region Totals $8.25 Billion

July 29, 2007  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on July 2007 In what’s described as a landmark study, High Point officials released a report Thursday that found the economic impact of the home furnishings industry to be $8.25 billion and 69,000 jobs in a four-county region surrounding High Point.

“Although we knew going into this study that the home furnishings industry in this region was huge, we were surprised to discover the true magnitude of its impact,” said Nido Qubein, president of High Point University, which conducted the research. “This study proves that High Point is the Furniture Capital of the World.”

The study measured the industry’s output and employment in the four-county Triad Region that includes High Point, Winston-Salem and Greensboro. It include the $1.12 billion impact of the twice-annual High Point Market, furniture manufacturing, supporting industries and wholesale and retail sales.

City officials said the study will be used as a tool to recruit more home furnishings companies to locate in the region and to bolster their arguments that state and local government officials should do more to support the High Point Market and home furnishings companies that are drawn to the region. While the region has been stung by a series of furniture factory closings in recent years, the report’s authors found the impact of furniture manufacturing across the region is $4.8 billion and 34,000 jobs, which represents 17 percent of total manufacturing jobs in the area. The study was commissioned by the city of High Point and was conducted by three High Point University staff members, including Gerald Fox and Richard Hargrove, who, are both professors, and David Bryden.

As evidence of the growing impact of the furniture sector in the area, High Point Mayor Becky Smothers pointed to plans by Legacy Classic to build a large distribution center in the city. Also, several companies have recently located their headquarters in the city, including Home Meridian International, Master Design. In addition, La-Z-Boy recently moved a divisional office into High Point.

Furniture and home furnishings manufacturing in the area continues to support 17,323 jobs, but the study’s authors found a much larger collective jobs impact in related fields ranging from suppliers that provide everything from trucking (6,825 jobs) to commercial printing (5,400 jobs) to furniture showrooms (4,154 jobs).

In the region, the study’s researchers counted 494 furniture manufacturers, 399 commercial photographers and printers, 139 materials suppliers, 61 design firms and 120 suppliers of fabrics, finishes and hardware.