Episode 15: High Point Furniture Market – Spring 2018

High Point Furniture Market – Spring 2018

1. Intro – What is the furniture market?
A. The largest home furnishings trade show in the world.
i. 10 million square feet
ii. 2,000 Exhibitors
iii. 180 Buildings
iv. 75,000 attendees
v. April and October
vi. We walk about 15,000 – 20,000 steps per day!

B. Who Attends
i. Furniture store retailers
ii. Interior Designers
iii. Bloggers
iv. Buyers
v. Press

2. Social and educational Events
A. Seminars – Color, what to charge, new product licensing, Instagram and Social Media for Business
B. Showroom breakfasts, lunches and dinners
C. Showroom parties
D. Style Spotters – track the latest trends and post to their favorites to Pinterest boards
E. Design Bloggers Tour – 10 Bloggers sponsored by showrooms  – share their insights and discoveries from market.

3. A Typical day for Kandrac & Kole
A. Agenda – a laminated list of parties, buildings and alphabetical listing of vendors. B. Plan the day – (by location) C. See key upholstery manufacturers to sit in new pieces, take notes and lots of photos D. View new product and trends E. Find new vendors and artist
F. Take 1000s of photos
G. Walk Market Square for new vendors
H. Maintain our vendor relationships
I. Attend events to support our design friends who are launching a collection or speaking on a panel

4. Trends we saw
A. Mixed Metals
B. Organic Textures
C. Tribal/Ethnic influences
D. Navy Blue and Peacock Blue
E. Black and White
F. Brass lighting and accessories
G. Performance Fabric
H. Bright and bold patterns – Chinoiserie
I. Natural Woods
J. Mid-Century Modern – Vintage looks

5. Inspiration
A. The vignettes are great inspiration for our projects
B. It’s great to see fabrics and finishes in person that we are specifying for our projects