Spent a blitz day at Market, just beating out the Mother of All Thunderstorms and tucking in under the H&M building garage on my BMW motorcycle about four minutes before the skies opened up just before 8:30 a.m.. They were kind enough to give me a covered parking spot for the day (most coveted!) since I was on the bike. I went to Hancock and Moore, Councill, Jessica Charles, Taylor King, Bradington Young, Wildwood Lamps and Jonathan Charles before finishing at 5:30 p.m. and jumping back on the bike to ride home, getting in at midnight. Long day, and that last hour was a bit chilly on the ride. Market looked to be very lightly attended the day I was there.

Hancock and Moore rolled out a bunch of new leathers, including a spectacular Grade 5 hide from Europe that is probably the finest leathers I've ever seen on upholstery. New frames too, of course, and I'm always drawn to Alan Price's designs which appeal to what I like style-wise.

Councill is always fun, with delicious woods and inlays that are hard to resist. I bought several pieces for stock.

Jessica Charles - meh. Not much really exciting. I ordered a set of (6) of their dining chairs to be covered in H&M leather to go around a Councill Dining Table, however.

Taylor King has been very busy, with a new web site and simplified format in their product line. Hallelujah! They are going on a major expansion on their America's Pride collection and I think that's exactly the right track for them to be on. I bought several pieces in that collection for my showroom. Price/Value they are really hard to beat and its all USA made.

Bradington Young was a bit disappointing, though their new showroom (integrated with Hooker Furniture and Sam Moore) was terrific. They have a tendency to knock off Hancock and Moore's designs but they don't do a very good job of it and miss the styling cues by a wide margin. Their clone of H&M's Sundance sofa is laughable and they should be embarrassed to present that. Their knock-offs of the H&M Princeton Chair and Sadler Recliner were much better, but still - come on guys, hire your own designers.

Wildwood lamps is still the best lamp company. I always place orders for stock.

Jonathan Charles had a lot of wood case goods that appealed to me. Price point was excellent and workmanship was top-notch. The only thing...its all made in Vietnam, and I have always been a USA-made only store. I decided to throw caution to the wind and gave them a fairly good order, I think it will be well received. Their Mahogany Pie Crust table, for example, was very well done and 1/5th the price of one made in the USA.

I will start to post photos shortly, I do have to resize and image them all so it will take some time to get them all up.