1889Production begins in HighPoint’s first furniture factory. The High Point Furniture Manufacturing Co. ships its first piece, an office desk, by July. Its success inspires others to get into the business. The industry grows thanks to a ready supply of good hardwood timber lumber and regional consumer demand for inexpensive furniture.
1900 – 1910
The number of North Carolina furniture companies increases by more than 100%.
North Carolina furniture output grows from $1.5 million to $8.5 million.
http://www.highpointmarket.org
1901
35 area furniture manufacturers meet in the High Point mayor’s office to discuss creating a Southern Furniture Exposition. Their goal is to compete with established markets in New York, Chicago and Grand Rapids, Michigan.
1902
Ten High Point industrialists pledge $1,000 each to the creation of a Southern furniture exposition.
1905
High Point furniture salesman D. Ralph Parker announced the formation of the High Point Furniture Exposition Company, with plans to use 2,000 square feet on the second floor of the Maddox Building as showroom space.
1906
The Furniture Manufacturers’ Exposition Company, a rival to Parker’s enterprise, is chartered and announces plans to use 10,000 square feet on the third floor of the Ragan and Mills Building as its display area.
1909
The two exposition companies join forces and announce the first formal Southern Furniture Market, to be held in High Point on March 1-15.
The first Southern Furniture Market opens on March 1. Attendance is moderate, with buyers coming mostly from within North Carolina and neighboring states. Two buyers make the long trek from the West Coast.
The second Market is held during June and July. Attendance improves over the first event but is not enough to encourage the establishment of a regular biannual Market; exhibitors adopt a once-a-year schedule.
1911
Trade magazine Southern Furniture Journal calls for the creation of “one large showroom commensurate with the large number of factories and volume of business” conducted by High Point’s growing furniture industry. A decade-long quest to build this large showroom facility begins.
1913
The Southern Furniture Exposition is formed to establish and promote an ongoing, semi-annual Market in High Point. Following the tradition established by other markets, events are to be held in January and July.
The first Southern Exposition runs from June 26 – July 12. One hundred exhibitors show their wares to approximately 1,000 dealers, making it the largest display of Southern made furniture ever assembled. Manufacturers’ Record compares it to the great furniture centers of New York, Chicago and Grand Rapids.
1914
The second Southern Furniture Exposition opens on January 14. Buyers from 14 Eastern and Southern states attend. Southern Furniture Journal reports, “practically all of them spent freely.”
War breaks out in Europe, disrupting international trade. Southern furniture makers suffer from the loss of the overseas cotton market, which causes a steep decline in furniture sales. Plans for continuing the semi-annual Market are put on hold, as are hopes for a single, large-scale exhibition building.
The High Point Marketing Association is formed to promote sales of the town’s furniture products. The Association brings buyers to High Point throughout the year, as the semi-annual Exposition lies dormant.
1915
North Carolina furniture factories run overtime to keep up with war orders. As a result, they begin to give more attention to raising their quality standards and nationwide marketing.
15,000 rail cars, most loaded with furniture, shipped out of High Point over the course of the year.
1918
World War I ends; High Point furniture makers quickly retool for peacetime production.
1919
Two years of pent-up consumer demand launch a boom period for furniture makers. High Point producers benefit from their position as America’s leading makers of medium and low-priced goods.
Leading High Point manufacturers pledge $35,000 to the construction of a large-scale exhibition building. The Committee on Space Requirements recommends a 200,000 square foot facility.
Announcing the plans for the new building, The High Point Enterprise claims, “High Point aspires to become the foremost furniture market on this continent.”
A plot of land on South Main Street near the intersection of Commerce Street is purchased for $35,000, to be the site of the new building. Construction begins two months later.
1921
The Southern Furniture Exposition Building opens for its first show on June 20. Built in 19 months, at a cost of about $1 million, it contains 249,000 square feet of exhibition space. Regular shows are held in January and July.
700 buyers from 100 cities across the U.S. attend the first show in the new building. 149 exhibitors display their wares, gaining $2.25 million in total sales.
Furniture World proclaims, “the Southern Show will probably excel any market, for it is well known among all furniture dealers that southern factories make a line of furniture that is not duplicated elsewhere and it is peculiarly adapted to the needs of the present times.”
High Point Enterprise editor J. J. Farris writes, “Already the Furniture Center of the South, we hope eventually to be THE Furniture City without territorial limits.”
Buoyed by the success of the summer event, High Point holds its first “mid-season show” in November.
1922 – 1929:
The Southern market experiences rapid growth during the Roaring ‘20s, setting new records every year.
The number of North Carolina furniture factories grows from 113 to 143 and production increases 33.6%
1922
Industry insiders first begin referring to the Southern Exposition as “The High Point Market.”
Trade magazine Market News heralds the Southern Exposition as a “national institution.”
1924
The Southern Exposition Building sells its last available square foot of exhibit space.
1929
North Carolina is the 5th largest furniture producing state in America, behind New York, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
The stock market crashes, sending the U.S. economy into four years of decline and massive unemployment known as the Great Depression.
A sharp decrease in new home starts hits the furniture industry especially hard.
1931
Furniture production falls to nearly half of its 1929 peak, from $659 million to $350 million.
1932
Seeking to combat the decline in sales, Southern Furniture Exposition president Paul Casey issued a “special invitation” encouraging buyers to come to High Point and view more than 100 exhibits. With nearly 25% of the nation’s workers unemployed and housing starts still in decline, however, retailers are in no position to respond.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president, promising a “New Deal” that will spur an economic turnaround.
1933
Furniture production loses another $100 million
Fully one third of furniture makers shut their factories.
Despite considerable empty space in the Exposition Building, Furniture South reports Southern makers “stuck to their knitting and kept plugging away, still firm in their belief that the Southern Market was of ranking importance.”
General economic recovery begins as the year comes to a close.
1934
Exhibitors return to the Southern Exposition Building, filling all available space.
A “considerable” number of buyers are reported at Market.
The Southern furniture industry operates at a loss.
1935
The New York Sun reports that in comparison to goods seen at the older markets, Southern producers were paying more attention to design.
Furniture production increases to $325 million; Southern makers enjoy small profits.
1936
Production rises another 37% in 1936; however, as prices of finished goods have declined, the industry gathers only half its 1929 share of dollar.
The Southern Exposition Building celebrates its 15th anniversary with record attendance during the July event, where 2,485 buyers shop 150 exhibits.
Furniture South reports that a number of manufacturers put “Sold up” signs in front of their displays; cites an increasingly wide assortment of home furnishings as a critical factor in the recovery.
1937
From a depth of 93,000 in 1933, housing starts rise to 336,000.
North Carolina and Virginia produce 38% of all bedroom furniture and 37% of all dining room furniture in the United States.
North Carolina ranks second, behind New York, in overall furniture production.
1940
Plans for a four-story addition to the Southern Exposition Building are announced; before construction begins, 40 exhibitors have rented the new space.
1941
On December 7, “a day that will live in infamy,” Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt asks Congress for, and receives, a declaration of war against the Axis powers of Japan, Italy and Germany. “Unconditional surrender” is set as the goal of the war effort.
Material and manpower used for furniture making are turned to the war effort, virtually eliminating production for civilian use.
The Southern Furniture Exposition is put on hold.
1942
Thirteen and a half stories of the 14-story Southern Furniture Exposition Building are devoted to the war effort, as the Demobilized Personnel Records Branch of the Adjutant General’s Office of the United States Army moves in.
1943
Southern furniture manufacturers attempt to hold a partial Market, the only one held during the war years.
1944
Allied forces launch a successful invasion of Nazi occupied Europe at Normandy on June 6, D-Day.
The Southern Furniture Exposition Company purchases 109 feet of frontage adjacent to their existing building for the construction of a 10-story addition. Plans are to increase exhibit space to 475,000 total square feet.
1945
The Nazis surrender Berlin on May 2
Japan agrees to unconditional surrender on September 2.
American GIs return home to the promise of federally subsidized mortgages at low interest rates with no down payment.
Furniture South predicts that the coming need for home furnishings will be the greatest in history.
American furniture makers prepare to meet the coming demand for home furnishings; buyers are eager to get products into their stores.
The Federal Reserve District headquarters in Richmond announced that the Southeast was officially the furniture-producing center of the country.
North Carolina overtakes New York as the nation’s leading furniture state, fulfilling the dream of the state’s early industry pioneers.
Buyers “flocked to High Point to get the jump on competitors.”
1946
The Army leaves the Southern Exposition Building in May, but as the facility must be converted from offices to exhibition space, no High Point Market is held.
Restoration of the Building is completed by the end of the year. Housing starts increase 300%, from 203,300 to 607,500.
1947
The first post-war Southern Exposition opens on January 20; more than 5,000 buyers from 2,563 stores in 956 towns swarm into High Point.
Furniture sales reach $5 billion.
1948
Housing starts climb to 937,000.
The High Point Market sets new attendance records.
1949
Construction begins on a 163,000 square foot addition to the Exposition Building, named the Wrenn Wing.
1950
The Wrenn Wing opens at the July Market with 100 new exhibitors.
More than 6,500 buyers attend the July Market, which featured the largest variety of home furnishings ever shown in High Point. Some manufacturers report receiving enough orders to keep their plants operating until October of 1951.
Informal "in-between" markets begin to emerge, hosting visitors in April and October. Though this trend continues throughout the 1950s, the main markets are still held in January and July.
1955
Almost half of all wood bedroom furniture made in the United States is produced within a 125-mile radius of High Point.
An additional 12 acres of exhibit space opens at the January Market.
1956
New South Furniture Exposition Corporation begins construction of a 12-story exhibition building across Main Street from the Southern Furniture Exposition.
1957
Construction of a seven-story annex to the Exposition Building is announced.
1958
Reviewing the history of the Southern furniture industry, Furniture South concludes that the coming of the Southern Exposition released the energies that led to industry’s unparalleled success.
Due to the success of the Spring and Fall “mid-season” markets, the January and July events are reduced from 10 to seven days and a Monday – Saturday schedule is adopted.
1960
The size and scope of the April and October shows begin to surpass the January and July events. During the next two decades, they become the dominant force in the American furniture industry.
1967
The Green Drive addition to the Southern Exposition Building opens, creating another 375,000 square feet of exhibit space.
1980
Organizers in Dallas make a bid to host the major national home furnishings market. In High Point, this spurs a trend toward increasing services for furniture market visitors.
1982
The January and July shows, long relegated to the status of regional markets, are discontinued. April and October are now the only shows in High Point.
1989
The Southern Furniture Market is renamed the International Home Furnishings Market.
High Point's largest showroom, the Southern Furniture Exposition Building, changes its name to the International Home Furnishings Center, or IHFC.
With nearly 7 million square feet of furniture showroom space already available around the city a decade-long showroom building boom is about to begin.
Approximately 55,000 people attend the October market.
1990s
A construction boom begins, adding 3 million square feet of showrooms to the High Point Market.
2000
Showroom expansion continues,with the addition of massive new temporary exhibit spaces: The Suites at Market Square (April) and Showplace (October).
2001
The 12th floor of the IHFC opens, giving the building 3.5 million square feet of space – more than 14 times its original size.
Market organizers estimate about 80,000 visitors on average attend the April and October Markets.
The High Point International Home Furnishings Market Authority Corp. is formed. In one of its first actions to improve the guest experience, The Market Authority hires a professional transportation company to take over all shuttle operations.
2002
Recognizing the importance of the furniture industry and the High Point Market to the state’s economy, the N.C. General Assembly offers its support to the show.
The Market is shortened by a half-day – now opening on Thursday and closing the following Wednesday.
2005
Three major enhancements debut at the Fall 2005 Market
A new state-of-the-art Transportation Terminal opens in downtown High Point, offering Market visitors free shuttles to every showroom and event.
An on-line Market Planning Tool is added to the Market Authority web site, allowing guests to select the showrooms and events they will be visiting, and then print them out on a map that cross-references each location to its nearest shuttle stop.
Centralized registration system allows visitors to obtain a single badge for all major Market venues in one transaction.
The world's most comprehensive home furnishings Market grows by 187,500 square feet as five new showrooms are opened.
2006
The International Home Furnishings Market officially changes its name to The High Point Market.
Market Authority establishes International Buyers Center to provide business and concierge services for guests from outside the United States, and Buyers Lounge to serve the needs of domestic visitors.
Stars Under the Stars evening entertainment event brings well-known musical acts to Market.
Attendance at the Spring Market exceeds 100,000 guests.
Market Authority offers special discounted hotel accommodations to early registrants.
2007
Construction begins on the conversion of the eight-floor building at 101 South Main Street to an exhibition facility, to be known as Showplace West.
Market Authority launches Market Scouts program to assist buyers in finding their high-priority products and resources.
A study conducted by High Point University reveals that the furniture industry contributes $8.94 billion to the North Carolina economy; nearly 13,000 jobs related to the High Point Market.
The High Point Market is awarded International Buyer Program designation by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Sources:
Greensboro News & Record – High Point Edition, October 12, 2003 A History of Southern Furniture, Dr. David N. Thomas, Furniture South, Vol. 6, No. 10, Sec. 2, Oct 1967
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