How did attendance stack up for spring market?
Registrations and how they compare to October's market, were among the key takeaways from the High Point Market Authority's meeting.
HIGH POINT — With pricing uncertainty in the background due to potential tariffs, nobody knew how attendance at the April 26-30 High Point Market was going to shake out.
Turns out, there wasn’t as much of a drag as some might have anticipated.
At the High Point Market Authority‘s board meeting on April 30, CEO Tammy Covington said while overall registrations were down 1.3% vs. the October 2024 market, there were plenty of reasons for optimism, as those who came made it a point to ask more questions of their vendor partners.
“Overall, we heard a lot of positive comments,” Covington told the board. “We’ll take it.”
That optimistic feeling was echoed with anecdotal comments from most board members, who represented locals, manufacturers, retailers, designers, sales reps, building owners and other industry stakeholders.
Breaking attendance down by category, buyer company registrations were down 3.9%, but buyer contacts — individuals from the companies — was essentially flat, only down 0.2%. Non-stocking designer traffic was down 6.6%, while stocking designers represented a stronger segment, up 0.4%.
“Those retailers and those who stock product, we saw strong numbers there,” Covington said.
She said to nobody’s surprise, international traffic was 14% off the fall’s pace.
On the new buyer front, Covington said the market was 10 companies short of qualifying the same number of new buyers as the last market, and she expected that number to shrink. “We should be in single digits because we qualify some folks on the last day,” she said.
Among the dignitaries who toured the market included state legislators, North Carolina First Lady Anna Stein and the Ugandan ambassador to the U.S., who was accompanied by a designer with a goal of furnishing the embassy in Washington.
The funds that come from the state are being put to use. Terry Venable, vice president of operations and finance, said Sunday was the busiest day for the Red Line and Green Line shuttles, which combined to move some 5,200 people.
Venable also noted that the market’s park and ride system is undergoing changes. Through this market, it maintained spots at the old Oak Hollow Mall and near Davis Furniture. But Venable said Davis is looking to expand its footprint and will need to take back some of the space, so all marketgoers who use the park and ride service will need to use the Oak Hollow Mall location. He said it shouldn’t cause issues, as the 2,000 parking spots that the Market Authority contracts with High Point University, which owns the mall, are more than enough.
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