Jon Macklin has developed a bit of a soft spot for the town of High Point, North Carolina. The owner of Guelph’s Original Home Furniture takes two trips down to High Point in April and October every year. Macklin and his wife Emily have a fun time on the 12-hour trek and the subsequent stay, but there is a distinct purpose for this visit – attending the High Point Furniture Show.
Trade shows are an integral part of many retail businesses. For Macklin, it’s an opportunity to get the jump on some of the most interesting and innovative pieces that are due to hit the market. There is a popular show in Las Vegas and some excellent events closer to home in Toronto. But High Point has become a clear family favorite.
“There is some pre-planning involved,” says Macklin, who admits he loves the drive down to North Carolina. “We pick times that we want to meet with our manufacturers, with most of them all there in one place.
“We go to see the new lines, new trends, and new marketing material. The importance of it is that you get to view it all firsthand. We order and are among the first receivers of the products. If you don’t go, you could get the printed information within a month, or a traveling sales rep might come by six weeks later.”
You can only see so much from a picture. Macklin says that being present to see the new big thing offers so much more when it comes to making smart choices for what he wants to feature on the Original Home Furniture floor.
He finds the experience itself just fun, particularly at High Point. The trade show is located at a permanent site, one chosen by a group of furniture manufacturers for an annual event meant to give the town an injection on the commerce front. Macklin says that the physical space utilized for the show is just incredible. You could walk through the various buildings and warehouses for a week and not cover it all.
The real value of the High Point Furniture Show for Macklin is invaluable information. “It reveals the heartbeat of the broader industry,” says Macklin. “It allows us to see what manufacturers are doing and how they’re presenting. We see the new fabrics, the new colours, and we buy there so we’re not back home relying on our memories, did you like this or like that? We put it together immediately so we know what brands we will represent.
“People come to a store like ours because they want to touch the furniture; they want to feel it. So the High Point show not only tells us about new trends and colours, but it’s also about sitting in it and seeing exactly how it’s built. What’s the feel? Is it shallow, or is it deep? It’s as much about the feel of the furniture as the fabric or colours.”
Macklin and Emily have made the trip to High Point enough that they have some good friends whenever they visit. They talk with these friends and exchange thoughts on some of the better parts of the trade show.
“Our buying group is also there for the High Point show,” he says. “We usually have a dinner where we all discuss what everybody has seen and what they thought about the products. So, while you’re down there, you’re also picking everyone’s brain to get better ideas and throw your ideas out to them to see what they think. It’s great when you have a team down there that you can talk to. We try to do that mid-show, so we have a couple of days to go back to the show and find that specific manufacturer.
“We obviously take a lot of pictures. For me, it’s important to be as up-to-date as possible.”