I came into the business of selling furniture online by accident rather than by design, but 18 years later, I do consider that it has been my destiny.
Early on in my business, I was led to consider exhibiting in High Point by the urging of one of my early adopter Designer customers, who was, back in 2002, shopping online for Chinese Antiques for her clients. In the interest of growing my To The Trade business, she spurred me on to take a trip to High Point and check out if it was a venue that would made sense for me. This trip was subsequently followed by 
another to secure my first showroom in the Historic Market Square in 2004. The rest is history, you could say, as I’ve recently chalked up my 28th (!) High Point Furniture Market.
So many things have changed over the years, for exhibitors and buyers alike, as the economy has taken its dips and turns and as the impact of the internet has taken on a life of its own.
Specifically in response to the 2008 economic downturn, I tried various ways to attract my designer customer base year round as I made the decision to move my showroom to an outlying space and have my warehouse double as my showroom…. with no less than 5 moves since 2008. I also tried representing a myriad of product lines.
I am Happy to say that, 10 years later, I have culled down and changed the nature of how I rep the companies I do… now serving as US rep for companies that don’t have a brick and mortar stateside, namely UK based Distinctive Chesterfields and Mexico based Frank Rogers Design….alongside my Chinese Antiques.
And…. for the record, can put out with confidence that 506 N Wrenn is my FINAL move for my “showroom”.
All the while, the one thing that has remained constant, and has organically grown, is the community of people that I can relate to, that I feel warm with, that I can encourage and be encouraged by, that I can learn from, and that I respect and cherish.
There are many aspects of being a HPMKT exhibitor that I could expound upon, but all I really cared to acknowledge here, today, is my gratitude for the community of people I’ve come to call my own, by way of being a participant in this bi annual production that serves ALL involved in the Home Furnishings Industry, including, yes, yours truly.
Because of HPMKT my Furniture Family reaches nationwide…and twice a year I get to nurture and grow it… a privilege and a joy.
Ruth