I generally don't have time to go to Market because I work in my store six days a week, every week. For those of you that don't know what it is, "MARKET" is the semi-annual roll out of everything that is new in the furniture and home decor industry. This is where every maker in the USA shows off the best they have to offer. Its a pretty big deal in the trade, and its full of both work and play.

Jack Glasheen, owner of Hancock and Moore, Councill, Jessica Charles and other furniture companies personally asked me to come to Market when he was in my store two months ago. I have great respect for Jack and all he has accomplished in the business, so I decided I'd make a 1-day blitz trip and see what I could in a day.

I left my house at 5:45 a.m Sunday morning and arrived in High Point at 10:50 a.m. I went to as many places as I could and gathered as much information as my brain could hold until 6:30 p.m., then fired up the car and pointed it back home to arrive a little after midnight. Was a LONG day!

I went to Taylor-King, Hancock and Moore, Jessica Charles, Councill, Leathercraft, Wildwood Lamps/Jonathan Charles and was then out of time.

The first thing I noticed was that I was dressed WAY too casually! Everyone puts on elegant clothing to go to market. The ladies are dressed elegantly and fashionably, and most the men have suits on. Heck, I only own one suit and am only planning to wear it for my funeral.... Then again, I've always been more at home with the factory workers in the back then the executives in the front office....

I took lots of photos. So many that I exhausted the first battery on my Nikon. As time permits I will post them here over the next few weeks, they run into the hundreds.

The showrooms are fantastic. They really do knock themselves out to show you the best they have to offer. I spent a lot of time looking at the style and fashion of the industry, to see how they could alter pieces to create a new look, rather than just pumping out the same old durable furniture at the best price. This really gave me new ideas for some things that I would otherwise be cautious of ordering out of a catalog page. For example, exotic leather stitching, and large form factor gimp trims on piece.

The new pieces, new fabrics,and new covers were all rolled out at Market. These take at least 3 to 5 months to filter down into dealer photos and samples, so its good to see and try out new product when its just presented. Some initial impressions:

Taylor-King: I'm still waiting for my opening stock order to arrive, but what they build is so impressive - I'm excited to have this line coming in the store. Some fantastic, innovative and impressive pieces that are tailored and built as good as anything from any other maker. If you want to have an impressive piece in upholstery, this is your company. WOW. Some of the pieces were so huge that I asked "How do you get that in a house?" I wasn't kidding, either. I was standing in front of a gorgeous, exotic, curved sofa that by my calculations required a 46" doorway opening to deliver. There are not many homes with a 46" door!

Hancock and Moore: My favorite, as ya'll know. I spent a lot of time here and was reeling by all the choices. New Leathers, new frames, new exotic treatments all just overwhelmed me. Burnished Leathers were heavily displayed and they sure look good. I ordered several new floor model pieces in burnished hides of various colors, its a hot look right now. I got to sit down with one of the designers of the furniture, Alan Price, and we talked about various manufacturing techniques and hide types and styles. Great guy, full of very useful information on leather furniture - he knows his craft. I went absolutely nuts over the large hanging swatches of every leather they had. Nearly 500 leathers neatly lined up in 3' long x 2' wide hanging samples. Normal dealer samples are 6" x 8", and these large pieces where exactly what I want for my store. These are far too expensive for H&M to give to their dealers, so I told them that I am willing to spend up to $ 3,000 to buy a set for my store if they will make me a set. I intend to be the only retail store in the country with them, because I think this will make a huge difference in the ability to select a hide for customers. We'll see what happens! If it does, I'll also be able to mail them out to forum members as needed. I came away ordering several pieces of new stock including a very jazzed up McNary sofa with fancy stitching and an exotic settee in a class 5 leather.

Jessica Charles: I found several new chairs I really liked, and resisted the temptation to order them all in leather! They are the best at making swivel / rocker chairs. None better.

Councill: Nothing grabbed me here for the most part, other than a nice traditional sideboard or two. Honestly this line looks adrift, as if its seeking a niche to fill and can't find place to land. Modern Contemporary mixed with old world 18th Century and neither succeeds in my opinion. Many designs left me cold, though a few of the upholstered pieces looked great.

Henkel Harris: Next door to H&M, I wandered around here for a few minutes. They're big on bragging how they are uncompromising in their quality and the finest in the land, but if they're so great why are all the drawer bottoms on every piece made of plywood instead of solids? All the drawer dovetails are jig-cut as well. Polished to within an inch of its wood life, I'll give you that - but I have small artisian shops that put out better constructed furniture using more hand-tool techniques. Lots of sizzle at H-H, but only hamburger - not steak.

Leathercraft: Running out of time but I made a quick pass through here. Much smaller than Taylor King or Hancock and Moore in showroom size, but all their pieces very nicely crafted, as usual. Leathercraft has definitely moved away from traditional an into modern contemporary / tranisitional pieces. They suffer from only one major flaw, same as they always have....not all their pieces sit well. At Hancock and Moore, I'd estimate 95% of all their furniture sits great. At Leathercraft, more like 50%, at least to my liking. That means you have to be far more careful ordering sight unseen from Leathercraft than you do H&M. They sure do build it nice, however.

Wildwood Lamps: My favorite accessories, but they have dumbed down their line somewhat and no longer offer the magnificent hand-painted Japanese porcelain lamps they were once famous for. I miss those, evey thought they were costly you could spot them from across the room (guess what I have in my living room?). Consumer pressure for cheaper has pushed them downmarket some, but still some good pieces to get -and I did. They also own Jonathan Charles, an extensive line of furniture made in Vietnam. I have heavily resisted buying anything from Vietnam or China in the past, but it looked well made at a good price point so I did order half a dozen pieces - we'll see.....

Best Market Story: I love visiting with Jimmy Moore (Hancock and Moore). He's always happy to see someone and he's been so successful in his 50-plus years in the furniture business that he doesn't have to be there. He WANTS to be there! Jimmy is a people-person and he just lights up if you ask him to build a difficult piece of furniture that everyone else says can't be done. Jimmy will get it done. So we're talking about various collections (and I admit my car/motorcycle addiction) and Jimmy is into Grandfather clocks and has some fun cars as well. He says, "I have probably 700 grandfather clocks from all over the world, many of them antiques, but my wife won't let me wind up but three at a time. She says that I never grew up, but you know, I've been married to her for over 55 years and I'd marry her again in a minute. She the best wife a man could ever ask for. We met when we were both sixteen years old and neither of us ever dated anyone else after that."

....more later.......