Market Authority Airs Positive Feedback

October 23, 2008  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Markets on October 2008 This week’s High Point Market got positive reviews from retailers and exhibitors alike during a meeting of the city Market Authority board Thursday.

One topic that wasn’t discussed was a move by the Las Vegas Market to shift its Fall 2009 event to September (14-17), within four weeks of the High Point Market that starts Oct. 17. After the board meeting, Samson Marketing President and CEO Kevin O’Connor said in an interview that a group of exhibitors and industry executives met Saturday—in an unofficial gathering separate from any formal organization—to discuss the possibility of working to persuade the Las Vegas Market to reverse its schedule shift, but the meeting ended with a decision to not take any action as a group.

He said the exhibitors at the meeting included several with showrooms in Las Vegas. Other participants said more than two dozen showrooms were represented. “Since there wasn’t a consensus on how we wanted to express that, I think we all agreed it would be best to express that individually” to the World Market Center, O’Connor said.

On Wednesday, World Market President and CEO Bob Maracich said he had been approached by a number of exhibitors in High Point this week who questioned the Las Vegas Market date shift. He said he’s been telling those exhibitors, including some who show in Las Vegas, that the venue is committed to its 2009 February-and-September schedule because retail buyers have expressed a strong preference for those dates.

At Thursday’s Market Authority meeting, several board members voiced praise for the High Point Market. Keith Koenig, president of the 23-store City Furniture chain in South Florida, said he was openly critical of High Point and its facilities five years ago. “Hospitality has gone from OK to outstanding,” he said, adding that the event’s facilities and transportation have made similar strides. “It’s a much easier market to shop, and we get more more done (in High Point) than any other market we attend.”

O’Connor, chairman of the Market Authority board, told the group that he was pleasantly surprised this week by the number of attendees at his company’s three showrooms, given the stock market’s downward slide in recent weeks. He said attendance at one of Samson Marketing’s three showrooms was up this week, while the number of buyers at two others was “within one or two” of a year ago. “I think attendance is kind of phenomenal given what’s gone on over the past few weeks,” he said, referring to the stock market’s gyrations.

Palliser CEO Art DeFehr, also a member of the Market Authority board, said the number of visitor’s to the company’s space was “down in the single digits.”

Market Authority President and CEO Brian Casey said the organization doesn’t release attendance figures until the event has been concluded.