187,000 Sq. Ft. Of Showroom Space Added To High Point Downtown (show) Area This Year

Furniture World Magazine

The International Home Furnishing Market Authority (IHFMA) announces the opening of five new major showroom buildings over the past year, adding 187,000 square feet of space to the High Point downtown area. According to IHFMA President, Judy Mendenhall, the expansions bring the total amount of space in High Point close to 12 million square feet and typify the ongoing growth the Market experiences each year. Center Point on Russell with 38,000 square feet, opened in April, 2005 and is 100% leased, according to Lynn Underwood, Sales Coordinator and Property Manager of Centers of High Point. Center Point on Centennial, which opened in October, 2004 provided an additional 128,000 square feet, in what was formerly a vacant mill warehouse. The four-building complex opened its first Center Point building with 275,000 square feet of showroom space at 401 South Hamilton in 1997, and the complex now provides a total of 521,000 square feet. “We’ve been very fortunate that we have never had a market during which our buildings have not been completely leased, and we attribute this in great part to our ongoing commitment to taking excellent care of our tenants,” Underwood added. While Lee Industries’ move to a new 32,000 square foot building at 108 S. Lindsay Street is more modest, it represents an increase of almost triple their showroom space. “It was the right time for us to expand,” said Bill McKinney, Lee CFO, “We needed more room to show our buyers the depth of our lines, so we started construction in December 2004 and look forward to benefiting from this aggressive move at the October Market.” Rod Lambeth, CEO of Tomlinson/Erwin Lambeth and Directional, will move his company from its long-time home as the charter tenant at Market Square, in the building that was Tomlinson’s manufacturing plant in the early 1900’s, to a 15,000 square foot building at 525 North Wrenn Street. “Market Square was a wonderful location for us for so many years, and of course, there was the sentimental attachment to our factory, but we realized that the newer designers didn’t identify our name with the building anymore. As a manufacturer of high-end, designer-oriented collections, we wanted to be near other showrooms that cater to this market by keeping their showrooms open, five days a week, 50 weeks a year,” he said. W. Calvin Reynolds has been actively involved as a real estate broker and consultant with the Furniture Market since 1963, and with Wayne McDonald, is responsible for the opening of two new showroom buildings -- Centennial Center, with 67,000 square feet, and Davis Mill, with approximately 35,000 square feet. “We serve a very specific type of tenant,” said Reynolds, “We offer properties with leases priced to be accessible to the smaller manufacturer who needs a new space, or who may be introducing their company to the High Point Market for the first time. We’ve been very successful targeting these folks and the demand continues for affordable showroom space in the northeast quadrant of the downtown area, and now, increasingly, in the newly renovated areas south of the railroad tracks.” “We’re pleased to report such a high level of showroom building expansion, and are proud of the ever-increasing investment by our exhibitors and their ongoing commitment to enhancing the presentation of their products to the buyers in High Point,” said Mendenhall.