I didn't go to Market, since Market is all about ordering new floor stock and with the store closing - I don't need any. There was no reason to make the 6 hour trip other than to just talk to people. And they would rather be selling to dealers buying inventory! For that reason, (and the Reps have stopped coming by) I don't have any info to share on the state of the industry.

Phil and I did chat up a few topics during dinner this week but nothing really notable. Some of which was:

* I suggested as much marketing money as possible go into the H&M Website to make it as good as it possibly can be. Clients rely heavily on it for making purchase decisions far more than glam ads, etc in print media. He agrees and they just rolled out a Visualizer where you can try out different covers on a recliner. This was a big effort, and will eventually encompass more pieces, but its a start. https://hancockandmoore.com/Products...ntiaroID=16126

* I offered this forum to Hancock and Moore free of charge, for them to take ownership of it and maintain it. Of course, they want me to continue to run it and respond to questions and do what I have been doing on it since 2008. The host server is paid up until this time next year, but the software running it is very much out of date and will require a new platform in the future, which will cost $ 5K or so to do something like that. We have more to figure out on that.

* We discussed a realistic MSRP, and I'd like to see it posted on items on the website. Right now, MSRP is a joke so everyone can "discount", and the consumer has no idea what something costs from looking at the website. Why have an MSRP of $ 14,000 on a sofa when the real price is closer to $ 6,000? It confuses people.....but it looks like its going the other way with even higher MSRPs to placate dealers who want to advertise "BIG SALE, 50% oFF" and all that. Ugh

* The industry is trying hard to avoid price increases. As we all know, everything has gone up since Covid - so I am surprised we haven't seen one in two years.