High Point attendance dipped slightly

-- Home Textiles Today, 11/4/2009 1:03:00 PM

High Point, N.C. — Registrations for last month's High Point Market were essentially even with the April market and only 1.4% below the October 2008 show, according to the High Point Market Authority.

The Market Authority said total registrations were 75,329. Of that number, 43,895 were buyers, and the rest were exhibitors, sales representatives, suppliers, students, news media and others working in the industry.

By comparison, there were 75,537 total registrations and 44,237 buyer registrations at the April market.

In October 2008, the figures were 76,403 total registrations and 44,634 buyer registrations.

The figures show the number who registered for market, but the Market Authority does not release actual attendance figures.

Market Authority President Brian Casey said nearly 3,000 registrants returned to High Point last month after an absence of three or more markets, while another 2,635 visited the market for the first time.

The latest buyer registration data also includes more than 1,600 international buyers from 668 buying organizations, and 14,749 designers.

"Buyers are searching for ways to get their businesses moving again and a trip to the High Point Market is the most efficient and cost-effective way to do that," Casey said. "They realize that new products and ideas are imperative if they are going to lure consumers back into the marketplace, and that the best place to make these connections is the High Point Market."

By Larry Thomas of HTT sister publication Furniture Today.