(upbeat music) - Hello, I'm Nido Qubein.

Welcome to Side by Side.

My guest today is at the helm of one of the world's most influential home furnishings markets.

You'll enjoy meeting Tammy Covington, the CEO of High Point Market Authority.

- Funding for Side by Side with Nido Qubein is made possible by: - Coca-Cola Consolidated makes and serves over 300 of the world's best brands and flavors to over 65 million consumers across 14 states and the District of Columbia.

With 17,000 purpose-driven teammates, we are Coca-Cola Consolidated.

- The Budd Group has been serving the Southeast for over 60 years.

Specializing in janitorial, landscape, and facility solutions, our trusted staff delivers exceptional customer satisfaction, comprehensive facility support with The Budd Group.

- Truist, we're here to help people, communities, and businesses thrive in North Carolina and beyond.

The commitment of our teammates makes the difference every day.

♪ - Well, welcome to Side by Side, Tammy.

Tammy Covington, you are the CEO of the Furniture Market Authority located in the city of High Point, one of the biggest trade shows of all time.

People come from all over the world to High Point, North Carolina.

People know High Point because of furniture.

And you have worked your way up the ladder to the top and you now have a big job.

But you grew up in a furniture world because your daddy used to work at Bassett Furniture, so it was close to you and close to your heart.

Give us some stats about the High Point market.

First of all, what is it officially called?

- You got it exactly right.

It is the High Point market.

Over the years, we've been known as the Southern Furniture Market, the International Home Furnishings Market.

But at the end of the day, when our buyer comes to High Point, they just say they're coming to High Point Market.

And so that is what we affectionately call the show.

- Give me some stats.

How many people come?

Where do they come from?

How long do they stay?

- Yeah, this is the largest home furnishings trade show in the world in terms-- - In the entire world?

- In the entire world in terms of footprint.

So we-- - Square footage.

- Square footage, 11 and a half million square feet.

It's 201 football fields.

- Wow.

- For those of us who need that qualifier.

In 180 buildings.

- 180 buildings?

- 180 buildings across 13 blocks of our downtown, which you're very familiar with.

About 2000 exhibitors, so those who show product.

- Some are huge, like Ashley Furniture and so on.

And some are small boutique shops.

- Yes, and some have a small temporary space.

But yes, some are very large, have their own building.

Others are in a large multi-tenant building.

But 70 to 75,000 people come every April and October to buy home furnishings.

So at the end of the day, while we here call it High Point Market, it's essentially a trade show where we're connecting the buyer and seller.

About 110 countries represented in our attendance.

And about 10% of our attendance is from outside the US.

So this is in fact very much an international event.

- Of course, economically speaking, in terms of impact.

- Yes, yes, $6.7 billion, with a B, comes to the state of North Carolina as a result of this show.

About 15,000 jobs just to put the show on itself.

- Including people who design the spaces, paint the walls.

- Yes, caterers.

- Haul the furniture.

- Forests.

- Caterers, transportation.

- Yes, transportation.

All of those things.

- Yeah, all of that.

- Yes.

- Yeah, I think North Carolinians are quite aware of the fact that the High Point Market is a huge, huge economic impact for the Tar Heel State.

Let me ask you, Tammy.

You said 75,000 people come here to buy furniture.

- Yes.

- Who are they?

- So, that's a great question.

And a lot of people, I think, don't realize that if you look at our buyer list, it's everyone from a small design shop to Wayfair, Amazon.

Wayfair sends 150 people to High Point, North Carolina.

Twice a year to buy.

It's One Kings Lane.

It's your E-Com.

It's also Rooms to Go.

And your Smith's Home Furnishings in Small Town, USA.

So, it's everyone across the ecosystem, whether you're a designer, a retailer, e-commerce, all of those folks to come to High Point to buy.

The other piece of this that we're very proud of is that it's also the supporting industries who come here.

So, if you're a marketing firm and you're selling services to the industry or a software company who has a point of sale system, you're coming to High Point twice a year because your customer's here.

- Makes sense.

- Yes.

- It's all about contacts.

- Absolutely.

- Yeah, exposure.

The reason I'm amazed by that is because it sounds like the market has been able to replace the retail store, which America had thousands of those, every town had a retail furniture store.

Through M&A and amalgamation and the evolution of large furniture companies, like Ashton, like Lazy Boy, like others, who have their own network of stores, that small retailer pretty much disappeared.

- We are definitely seeing that.

In that mid-tier retailer, Dr.

Cobain, it is the furniture stores that we knew growing up that were your hometown stores that were probably family-owned, probably had two or three stores, multi-generational, owned their own real estate.

You know, what we're seeing today is that that second or third generation is not necessarily interested in selling furniture anymore, and their real estate is maybe worth more than the business.

And so we are seeing those fall to being purchased by larger companies or simply just closing their doors.

And we have replaced those with not only e-commerce, larger retailers, as you mentioned, many of those vertically integrated, but also those design studios or the small designer who's coming to High Point not only for new product and the relationships with the manufacturers, but for education, networking, those things that are very important in that design trade.

- And I realize this may not be under your umbrella, but High Point also has other stores that are related to furniture, yes?

- They do.

Interwoven, which is the fabric side of the business.

- So that's a separate- - That is a separate show because their buying cycles are at a different time.

- Oh, what does that mean?

- And so keep in mind that Interwoven's buyer is my exhibitor in many cases.

And so that exhibitor has to buy fabric to then produce samples- - At a different time of the year.

- To then show at High Point Market.

So those cycles look different.

And so it occurs at a different time.

- But they're also an event for interior designers, I think, that come to High Point.

- There are lots of design events that happen because our city is very well known as also the design capital of the world.

You know, our city has rebranded and really embracing the creativity side of what we feel like market is kind of the tent pole in that.

So there are a lot of design events that happen throughout the year, absolutely.

- Now I'm gonna ask you the million dollar question, which is probably controversial, so you handle it the best way you choose.

But everybody wants to know, why aren't these showrooms open all year long?

- I'm glad you asked that question because I think when I engage in this conversation, people are usually surprised.

These showrooms, some of them are open, about 40 of the 2,000 do have a present year round.

But many of them, again, it's not part of their, how their businesses are run.

If you have a small temporary showroom here, you're not going to send staff that are gonna stay here year round, or even keep that showroom at a level that you want to entertain buyers more than twice a year.

What has happened in High Point, outside of those showrooms, is that there is this design economy that is here year round.

And it's sort of like someone, one of my board members talks about this and likens it to Mardi Gras.

Is that we can go to New Orleans today, we can pick up some beads, we can see things that say Mardi Gras, but it's not Mardi Gras.

But you need Mardi Gras for the branding of what happens in New Orleans.

But you need, we need the excitement of market twice a year.

We need the event to happen that then supports those who do want to be open year round.

It also supports the photography studios and the folks who make the foam, who go on the sofa, the trucking companies, all those people are here.

Absolutely.

All those, that creative piece that really supports this industry.

We love that that does occur in High Point year round.

It's just that show.

That's every April and October that needs to be the tent pole.

- The show used to be four times a year.

- It did.

And we used to share it with Hickory.

- Yeah.

- Amazing how things change, right?

- I know, yes.

- You know, the change is inevitable.

- Yes.

- But transformation is optional.

- Absolutely.

- And so it sounds like you and your group and your board have transformed yourself to deal with those changes as they become real.

I mentioned sample books.

You know why I mentioned sample books, Tammy?

'Cause I'm fascinated by how, and let me just be very open about this.

I've served on the board of a couple of large furniture companies.

- Yes.

- So I'm quite familiar with the industry.

I've probably spoken to a hundred of them over the years.

But it intrigues me that while e-commerce, like Wayfair, - Yeah - and I met the owners of, the CEO of Wayfair, in fact, I heard from the other day.

It's a fascinating company.

- Yes.

- What intrigues me is e-commerce has not been able to replace the touch because furniture, and correct me if I'm wrong, furniture in the main, it's the female making that decision.

- Yes.

- And she wants to sit in that chair.

She wants to feel that fabric.

It's not just buying it on your computer.

- Yes.

- And so the sample book, which is the books that they put together with these little samples of fabric, continues to be a business today.

- Absolutely.

- And you go in these large furniture stores and there is a whole section of that store made up of sample books.

- Absolutely.

- You can actually go see and feel the samples.

What does that tell us about the evolution of technology as it relates to the psychology of buying?

- You're absolutely right.

We are very fortunate as the trade show that supports this industry, that furniture is still best experienced.

It is not only the touch and the feel, it is hearing about the product.

We all have a love affair with our home.

You want something in your home that means something.

And a lot of our designers will come to High Point and they'll learn about that product and able to go back to tell their consumer, to tell her about how that product was made and why this is best for her home.

We have seen an evolution in how people, how the end consumer shops for furniture.

And we're expecting that to continue to change.

I'll give you an example.

We know that if you look at other industries currently, middle school girls specifically, are fascinated by skincare.

- By skincare.

- Skincare.

And how they shop for skin.

- I have a granddaughter who's in middle school.

- And I bet if you ask her what her skincare regimen is, she can tell you.

And the way they're shopping for that skincare is that they know the brands, they know the brand story, they know the sustainability, but they're still walking into retailers and buying the product.

And so if we do a lot of looking at what this next generation looks.

- Does that explain why when you go to these big, you know, stores in New York and other places, the first floor is always all about cosmetics and skincare.

- Absolutely.

Absolutely.

So if we take what we can learn from parallel industries and look at what that means for furniture, we know that next generation of shopper is still going to care about that story.

They're still going to want to experience that, but they're going to do their research.

Do you know your average American cannot name more than five furniture brands.

And so our industry is working hard to make sure that that next consumer knows those brands, understands the brand story, but is still using a retailer or a designer to purchase that product.

- I see.

- So there is an evolution.

Technology plays a huge role in that.

Influencers, you know, we're seeing these designers not only be great at putting product in a room, but they're great at telling their story in social media.

And so we know that technology definitely plays an important role in the story of furniture, but you're exactly right.

It's still something that we care to touch and to feel and to sit in before we put it in our home.

- Let's talk about what NAFTA did to North Carolina.

- Yes.

- And the exodus of so much of the furniture business went to China to begin with, then went to Vietnam, then went to Mexico, then et cetera, et cetera.

And now we're seeing more of those companies coming back to the States, doing more business in the States.

It's specifically the city of High Point.

It's intriguing to me that there are more buildings going up.

You know, people were predicting, well, that furniture market will die because of e-commerce and all that.

In fact, it has grown.

- It has.

- And people are investing in that growth in the city of High Point, literally building more showrooms and so on.

What is your take on the global effect of manufacturing furniture?

What do you see in the future?

They went overseas because it was cheaper and they can import it and so on.

- Yes.

Certainly High Point became the center of the home furnishings universe because that 90% of the hardwoods were found within a 90 mile radius of where we sit.

- Right.

- And that made markets roots deep in North Carolina and in High Point.

- The supply chain was easy.

- The supply chain was here and was easy.

When we saw the evolution of that manufacturing going overseas, the reality was that that product still had to be shown.

And the majority of the population being east of the Mississippi made sense that it still be shown on the east coast of the US.

And so because of the heritage, we feel like we were able to hold on to this market.

- And show Las Vegas that you can hold on.

- That's right.

And the reality is that Las Vegas made us get our house in order here in High Point.

- Competition can be pretty good.

- Competition can be good, absolutely.

And that was the beginning of our organization because prior to 2001.

- Oh, is that right?

- That is right.

The High Point Market Authority was incorporated in 2001, staffed in 2002.

I was the second staff person hired after your friend, Judy Mendenhall, started this organization.

And we had work to do to make sure that we did the work so that you did continue to see those buildings and that investment happen here.

Because regardless of where the furniture is made, it still has to be shown.

And we were the best in the business at showing home furnishings.

And that's what's kept us in the game.

- Yeah.

Now, a lot of the buildings, Tammy, where this furniture is shown, is owned by people who don't reside in North Carolina.

Now, that's true of a lot of things.

That's true of a lot of residential.

You see a lot of apartment complexes in North Carolina owned by large companies like Blackstone, BlackRock, whoever.

How does that impact the city and the community, or does it?

- I think it impacts in that it makes us different, in some cases, in that there is an owner of that building, and then there is a furniture company who leases that building and shows product there.

What you see that makes us the same is that there's still usually a local presence.

There's still folks who are local to our area who are the ones in charge of executing the show and making sure the building is managing it and those kinds of things.

And those are the folks that our team works closely with to ensure that we're ready twice a year.

So that owner may see it as an investment, but as you said, that's very much the same as other cities.

It's just that those who have product in the building may only be here twice a year.

- Yes, yes.

The owners of the building could be elsewhere.

- Correct.

- But that's true of hotels and true of many, many things.

And so the High Point Market Authority does what?

- The High Point Market Authority is the official organizer of the market.

And what that means is we're responsible for two sides of the business, the marketing of the show, setting the dates and reaching out and telling people about High Point, North Carolina and coming here.

So the recruitment side, we are also in charge of the guest experience side.

- Parking.

- Parking, transportation, concerts, hospitality, security, all of those once you arrive.

So it's before you get here and once you arrive.

- All the logistics come under.

- All the logistics.

And we call that the retention side of the business.

- Retention, yes.

- So we want you to-- - Who handles the name tags and the registration?

- We do all of that.

So we are the keeper of the data that is a big part of what we do in ensuring that we're reaching out to people who are prospects who maybe aren't currently coming to High Point and those who've been coming for 50 years and making sure that we are credentialing them because you bring up a good point.

This is not open to the general public.

Lots of people I think hear market and we get calls in our office afterwards that wanna know when is the tent sale or when's the flea market.

This is a credentialed trade show where people, where our office is credentialing you with a buyer badge that says you are here to purchase home furnishings wholesale to resale.

So those are the major parts of what we do.

Also a big part of my job is the fundraising piece of this.

We are about a $9 million budget.

- A small part of that comes from Raleigh.

- About half of that comes from that.

About 4.5 comes from the state of North Carolina, acknowledging that $6.7 billion in economic impact.

And about 30% comes from the industry itself.

- Registrations.

- Registrations as well as a showroom tax that those buildings pay.

And about 20% is local dollars.

So from our city, from our county, from an occupancy tax, from our visit high point, our CVB makes up about 20%.

So we are that perfect public private partnership.

- What's the most difficult part about executing a market from your vantage point?

- I think the most difficult part is ensuring that everyone is pulling in the same direction.

You brought up the fact that you've got owners who are not local.

You've got furniture companies in the mix.

You've got buyers and sellers coming here twice a year, but no one really stops to think about how all this works together.

And sometimes ensuring that we look seamless, which is important.

We'd love our guests to come here, do business, get out of town.

- Absolutely.

- Maybe not even really recognize how it all happens, but it's sort of like Fred Flintstone's feet under the car.

We need to make sure Fred's continuing to pedal.

- And if it's rains all week, that's not a pleasant experience.

- But it's the communication piece of that, of we're gonna be handing out umbrellas and we're gonna ensure you know how to get from point A to point B without getting wet.

And it's all those, the little pieces to ensure that it is a seamless guest experience.

- It used to be that people came to one or two buildings.

Now there's so many buildings that people go to.

You know, for someone who went to Longwood University and got an undergrad degree in psychology and grad degree in education, of course you're recognized as Woman of Interest in Furniture Today Magazine, which is a leading publication in the furniture world.

You work a lot in the community.

I know Tammy and Big Brothers, Big Sisters, communities and schools and other things.

It's terrific to see how you have evolved in your own life.

What is the toughest thing that you experience in your work?

- I think it is because this show is a credentialed show and is not open to the public.

It is sometimes hard to tell the story.

It is sometimes hard for local people to understand how this impacts our daily lives as High Pointers.

How we enjoy the things 12 months out of the year because this market is able to give the shot in the arm to our businesses.

- That resources for the rest of the year.

- Exactly.

And it doesn't become this thing that happens downtown that's not open to me.

And that is the furthest thing that we want people to feel.

We want them to feel like this is, it may not be somewhere that you can shop or you can visit, but that-- - But it's still a good thing.

- It's still a good thing and that it contributes to our quality of life.

- And that's normal, that's normal.

- That is.

- That's normal, human behavior.

Tammy, it's amazing what you guys do.

Congratulations to you.

- Thank you.

- And thank you for being with me today.

- Thanks so much, Dr.

Qubein.

(upbeat music) ♪ - Funding for Side by Side with Nido Qubein is made possible by: - Coca-Cola Consolidated makes and serves over 300 of the world's best brands and flavors to over 65 million consumers across 14 States and the District of Columbia.

With 17,000 purpose-driven teammates, we are Coca-Cola Consolidated.

- The Budd Group has been serving the Southeast for over 60 years.

Specializing in janitorial, landscape, and facility solutions, our trusted staff delivers exceptional customer satisfaction, comprehensive facility support with The Budd Group.

- Truist, we're here to help people, communities, and businesses thrive in North Carolina and beyond.

The commitment of our teammates makes the difference every day.