High Point Market

The High Point Market Authority coordinates the exposition, whose showrooms have nearly completely filled what had been the historic downtown.

It is credited with starting the dramatic increase in showroom space that made High Point a major furniture exhibition center.

High Point's largest showroom, the Southern Furniture Exposition Building, changed its name to the International Home Furnishings Center, or IHFC.

A year later, the 12th floor of the IHFC opened, giving the building 3,500,000 square feet (330,000 m2) of space, more than 14 times its original size.

Among the High Point Market attendees transacting business are widely known figures from other arenas who participate in the home furnishings industry, including Martha Stewart, Kathy Ireland, Alexander Julian, Jonathan Adler, Oscar de la Renta, Candice Olsen, Paula Deen, Drew Scott, Jonathan Scott, and Charles Spencer.

The ownership of more than 50% of downtown High Point real estate by private equity marked a new era for the Market.

[8] In September 2017, Blackstone Inc. and Fireside Investments purchased IMC, which at the time owned 14 buildings with 6.7 million square feet in High Point.

[9] The High Point Market has been noted for being a significant part of the region's furniture business cluster, which was discussed by urbanist Richard Florida[10] and initially by economist Michael Porter.