1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:04,840 Hello, welcome to Episode 13 of Design Curious Podcast. 2 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:08,960 I hope you guys are doing great. I'm talking to you today about 3 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:13,720 High Point Market which I went to a couple weeks ago and I 4 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,280 would say it took me a little while to recover from it. 5 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:20,440 You know, just partly because I'm on West Coast and High Point 6 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,640 Market is on East Coast, but there was so much to see and do 7 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:27,820 as I'll get to in the episode you'll hear such an experience, 8 00:00:27,820 --> 00:00:30,620 definitely worthwhile. But first, I wanted to remind 9 00:00:30,620 --> 00:00:35,020 you that the holidays are coming up and I'm announcing this month 10 00:00:35,020 --> 00:00:39,020 that we have some bonuses going on with my design mentor, the 11 00:00:39,020 --> 00:00:43,220 mentorship program membership that I have that is a monthly 12 00:00:43,220 --> 00:00:48,740 call with me as well as some guided learnings about what the 13 00:00:48,740 --> 00:00:50,420 career of interior design is all about. 14 00:00:50,860 --> 00:00:54,900 And so we have some bonuses this month and next month before the 15 00:00:54,900 --> 00:00:59,380 end of the year that if you sign on, you can get 1/2 hour call 16 00:00:59,380 --> 00:01:04,260 with me, just a one-on-one and ask me all of your questions as 17 00:01:04,260 --> 00:01:06,780 opposed to the group call that we have every month in the 18 00:01:06,780 --> 00:01:09,220 program. So if that's of interest to you, 19 00:01:09,220 --> 00:01:10,380 you're going to want to get in there. 20 00:01:10,380 --> 00:01:13,780 Also, another reason to get in there right now before the end 21 00:01:13,780 --> 00:01:17,310 of the year is because we will be raising those rates starting 22 00:01:17,310 --> 00:01:20,550 January 1st. And I think it's quite 23 00:01:20,550 --> 00:01:21,870 affordable and reasonable right now. 24 00:01:21,870 --> 00:01:25,910 And if you want to lock that in for the lifetime of your 25 00:01:25,950 --> 00:01:28,870 membership, you can go ahead and do that. 26 00:01:28,870 --> 00:01:31,630 So you can find all that information on our Ward 27 00:01:31,630 --> 00:01:34,750 design.com and I'd love to see you in there. 28 00:01:34,750 --> 00:01:38,030 You can also message me on Instagram if you have any 29 00:01:38,030 --> 00:01:41,510 questions about that and we'll be posting all the information 30 00:01:41,510 --> 00:01:43,990 about those bonuses on Instagram as well. 31 00:01:44,390 --> 00:01:46,990 And today I'm going to talk about all the reasons why you 32 00:01:46,990 --> 00:01:52,550 should go to market, what you do there, and just my tips and 33 00:01:52,550 --> 00:01:56,030 tricks on going to market. So let's get into it. 34 00:02:00,310 --> 00:02:02,710 You're now listening to design. Curious. 35 00:02:03,030 --> 00:02:06,870 A place where you, Creative One, are here to learn about what it 36 00:02:06,870 --> 00:02:10,889 really is like to be an interior designer, and I'm your host and 37 00:02:10,889 --> 00:02:14,690 mentor, Rebecca Ward. If you're worried about how to 38 00:02:14,690 --> 00:02:18,730 succeed in a creative career, if you're ready to learn your next 39 00:02:18,730 --> 00:02:22,890 steps to become an interior designer, and if you want the 40 00:02:22,890 --> 00:02:26,970 satisfaction of doing something you love every day you are in 41 00:02:26,970 --> 00:02:31,090 the right place, Grab a coffee, a notebook, and let's dig into 42 00:02:31,090 --> 00:02:35,690 today's episode. So today I wanted to talk to you 43 00:02:35,690 --> 00:02:39,380 a little bit about the the furniture markets that you will 44 00:02:39,380 --> 00:02:42,340 likely be going to as an interior designer, whether 45 00:02:42,340 --> 00:02:46,660 you're going for your firm or as a solopreneur or even as a 46 00:02:46,660 --> 00:02:50,140 student. I highly recommend that you go 47 00:02:50,140 --> 00:02:52,100 to these markets, one that's close to you. 48 00:02:52,780 --> 00:02:58,620 I just got back from the fall market, High Point NC, and if 49 00:02:58,620 --> 00:03:02,510 you are unfamiliar with what High Point is as far as the 50 00:03:02,510 --> 00:03:06,590 market, it is the largest furniture market in the United 51 00:03:06,590 --> 00:03:10,430 States and it has quite a draw internationally as well. 52 00:03:10,950 --> 00:03:15,790 Twice a year, the sleepy town of High Point, NC becomes a 53 00:03:15,790 --> 00:03:19,470 bustling center point for the furniture industry. 54 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:24,800 Thousands and 10s of thousands of people fly in from all over 55 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,440 to attend this furniture market. And why would you want to go to 56 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,000 this market? Well, there are many reasons. 57 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:34,920 The the main reason to go to market would be to see the 58 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:37,520 furniture that you are selecting for your clients. 59 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,920 Oftentimes we are proposing furniture to our clients that 60 00:03:43,550 --> 00:03:46,950 they have not sat on themselves is not something that they can 61 00:03:46,950 --> 00:03:50,670 find in retail showrooms. Often the wholesale accounts 62 00:03:50,670 --> 00:03:56,150 that we maintain and open and nurture these relationships with 63 00:03:56,150 --> 00:03:59,790 the vendors. These accounts are sometimes to 64 00:03:59,790 --> 00:04:04,750 the trade only and as a designer you're looking for furniture 65 00:04:04,750 --> 00:04:10,190 that is very high quality that will last a long time and is not 66 00:04:10,710 --> 00:04:13,950 the same caliber as some of the retail items that people can 67 00:04:13,950 --> 00:04:15,790 purchase. Now there are furniture stores, 68 00:04:16,310 --> 00:04:20,550 retailers that will go and source from these brands and I 69 00:04:20,550 --> 00:04:25,910 was told the percentage currently is about 60% of 70 00:04:25,910 --> 00:04:30,030 attendees are designers and 40% are retailers. 71 00:04:30,390 --> 00:04:34,470 So there will be furniture stores that have an umbrella of 72 00:04:34,710 --> 00:04:38,710 different vendors that they offer to the clients that come 73 00:04:38,710 --> 00:04:41,060 in. I would say that is different 74 00:04:41,060 --> 00:04:43,900 than the brands that of furniture stores you might go 75 00:04:43,900 --> 00:04:48,300 into as a consumer such as the Willing, Sonoma Group, 76 00:04:48,820 --> 00:04:51,580 crate&barrel, things like that. They will sometimes source from 77 00:04:51,580 --> 00:04:54,660 these vendors and they also have their own direct vendors as 78 00:04:54,660 --> 00:04:56,740 well. But as a designer, typically 79 00:04:56,740 --> 00:05:00,180 you're not going to want to source retail because you want 80 00:05:00,260 --> 00:05:03,580 to be able to get some profit. It should be a part of your 81 00:05:03,580 --> 00:05:06,420 business model to make money off the furniture that you're 82 00:05:06,420 --> 00:05:10,080 selling to your clients. And so circling back to what I 83 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,800 said earlier is that you're proposing furniture to your 84 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:15,960 clients that they haven't been able to sit on. 85 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:20,120 So it's important that you can go and sit on these sofas 86 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:24,760 chairs, see the finish on the tables and then be able to 87 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:27,440 install confidence in your client that you've seen these, 88 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,600 you've sat in them, you've tried them, they look wonderful. 89 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,360 They're going to last and your client will be happy. 90 00:05:33,980 --> 00:05:37,380 I often will tell the client and use this as a gauge that I would 91 00:05:37,380 --> 00:05:39,780 never put anything into my client's home that I would not 92 00:05:39,780 --> 00:05:43,580 want in my own home. And that's the kind of quality I 93 00:05:43,580 --> 00:05:47,940 expect and that can be seen an apparent in the showrooms that 94 00:05:47,940 --> 00:05:50,300 you go and visit. So one of the reasons I went to 95 00:05:50,300 --> 00:05:54,140 High Point as opposed to Las Vegas, which is on the West 96 00:05:54,140 --> 00:05:57,540 Coast so much closer to me. I've gone to the Vegas market 97 00:05:58,020 --> 00:06:03,630 many, many times but there aren't as many vendors shown 98 00:06:03,630 --> 00:06:05,310 there as there are at high point. 99 00:06:05,310 --> 00:06:09,190 And so some of the vendors that I use for my clients, I really 100 00:06:09,190 --> 00:06:12,950 wanted to go and see in person. And so large majority of them 101 00:06:12,990 --> 00:06:16,110 are at the high point market. So it was nice to see those as 102 00:06:16,110 --> 00:06:19,470 well as find some new vendors that I could work with that had 103 00:06:19,870 --> 00:06:23,630 specific items I was looking for for my current projects and just 104 00:06:23,630 --> 00:06:27,390 offer me some more inspiration and some more resources to offer 105 00:06:27,390 --> 00:06:30,710 to my clients. Another aspect of market is that 106 00:06:30,710 --> 00:06:34,690 there are often continue education classes going on 107 00:06:34,690 --> 00:06:38,250 simultaneously. So that's another draw for some 108 00:06:38,410 --> 00:06:42,850 design professionals because if you are certified or have taken 109 00:06:42,850 --> 00:06:48,050 the NCIDQ, you have to maintain at least in most cases 10 110 00:06:48,050 --> 00:06:51,970 credits of continuing education units over 2 years. 111 00:06:52,130 --> 00:06:54,970 So the markets are a great opportunity to get a lot of that 112 00:06:54,970 --> 00:06:58,570 out of the way and satisfy those units. 113 00:06:58,930 --> 00:07:01,250 Then let's talk about the parties. 114 00:07:02,470 --> 00:07:06,430 So as you're walking around showroom to showroom, there'll 115 00:07:06,430 --> 00:07:09,870 often be a lot of free food. So lunches. 116 00:07:09,870 --> 00:07:11,990 Typically you can find a showroom that's serving a full 117 00:07:11,990 --> 00:07:15,350 lunch. They'll often have open bars as 118 00:07:15,350 --> 00:07:21,390 well, offering cocktails, wine, beer and other things depending 119 00:07:21,390 --> 00:07:23,790 on the showroom. So oftentimes we're swapping 120 00:07:23,790 --> 00:07:26,470 notes with other desires, see where the best lunch is for that 121 00:07:26,470 --> 00:07:30,140 day, or if you're needing a drink at the end of the day 122 00:07:30,140 --> 00:07:33,700 because you've been walking. Well, I tracked it on my Fitbit. 123 00:07:33,700 --> 00:07:37,620 I think we walked 16 and 17,000 steps each day, and that's 124 00:07:37,620 --> 00:07:41,420 probably even not as many as could have been done. 125 00:07:41,660 --> 00:07:46,380 So there are a lot of pictures of us sitting in chairs, partly 126 00:07:46,380 --> 00:07:48,540 because we're trying it out, but partly because we're just so 127 00:07:48,540 --> 00:07:51,260 tired from walking all day. And sometimes at the end of the 128 00:07:51,260 --> 00:07:54,820 day, a little bit of alcohol will help those sad and tired 129 00:07:54,820 --> 00:07:58,240 feet. And then I did notice on Sunday 130 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:00,680 they had some programs for students to come. 131 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:04,080 And so Joe Williams was sponsoring talk just dedicated 132 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:06,720 towards students. So they are starting to become a 133 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:09,440 lot more student friendly, which I think is great. 134 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:13,640 As I talked about in the internship episode that I 135 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,640 definitely think you should try to go to a market as a student 136 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:21,040 or as a part of your internship. The first time I'd gone to 137 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:24,560 market was one of the first years after I started my 138 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:28,270 business. So I took my mom with me and we 139 00:08:28,310 --> 00:08:32,230 walked through all three buildings, 27 floors. 140 00:08:32,630 --> 00:08:35,630 Well, not every single floor, because some of them are like 141 00:08:35,630 --> 00:08:40,230 mattress companies and larger furniture vendors that don't 142 00:08:40,230 --> 00:08:41,990 sell to designers. So we skipped those. 143 00:08:42,190 --> 00:08:47,020 But there was a lot to say. It was quite overwhelming and to 144 00:08:47,020 --> 00:08:50,580 be honest, I'd go into certain places not sure whether or not 145 00:08:50,740 --> 00:08:54,100 they were designer friendly because at that time it was more 146 00:08:54,100 --> 00:08:59,860 of a sixty, 4040% of the attendees were designers and 147 00:08:59,860 --> 00:09:02,740 sixty were retailers. And so they were just starting 148 00:09:03,020 --> 00:09:07,220 to become friendly to designers because of the recession, and 149 00:09:07,220 --> 00:09:11,340 that they needed to kind of open their market to designers and 150 00:09:11,340 --> 00:09:14,260 start being designer friendly. A lot of the places though, 151 00:09:14,260 --> 00:09:17,220 still had minimums that were hard for a designer to meet, 152 00:09:17,220 --> 00:09:21,940 like a $10,000 opening order, which almost never happens for a 153 00:09:21,940 --> 00:09:25,980 designer like with one project. So it was quite overwhelming and 154 00:09:26,500 --> 00:09:30,220 I was unsure about which showrooms I could go into which 155 00:09:30,220 --> 00:09:34,060 would be beneficial to me, but it was a good starting place. 156 00:09:34,100 --> 00:09:36,580 Once I did walk into the showroom and they scan your 157 00:09:36,580 --> 00:09:40,720 badge and they find your Rep and then they'll let you know if you 158 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:44,680 know if they they sell to designers and what is available 159 00:09:44,680 --> 00:09:48,120 to you, what their opening orders, they usually kind of get 160 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:50,880 that out of the way just to make sure you're not wasting your 161 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:53,160 time looking at their product if it's not available to you. 162 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:57,560 So it took me about 15 years to get over to a high point market, 163 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:01,960 but I'm glad that we went and I could see us going every couple 164 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:04,120 of years. I honestly don't go to market 165 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:07,520 every six months. So Las Vegas does their markets 166 00:10:07,990 --> 00:10:11,910 in winter and summer and High Point does theirs in spring and 167 00:10:11,910 --> 00:10:14,350 fall. Definitely wouldn't need to go 168 00:10:14,350 --> 00:10:18,230 to all of those, maybe just one of those per year. 169 00:10:18,670 --> 00:10:21,390 Things don't actually change that often. 170 00:10:21,390 --> 00:10:25,310 So I don't really feel like it's necessary for me to go more than 171 00:10:25,310 --> 00:10:27,430 that. It can add up because you're 172 00:10:27,430 --> 00:10:30,940 paying for flights and hotels and food and all of that. 173 00:10:31,220 --> 00:10:34,220 So I find about once a year going to market. 174 00:10:34,220 --> 00:10:37,820 Now it did go to the Dallas market as well in January for 175 00:10:37,820 --> 00:10:41,900 the first time because that had a particular vendor that doesn't 176 00:10:41,900 --> 00:10:47,620 show at Las Vegas and I wanted to see a few of those products. 177 00:10:47,980 --> 00:10:51,340 Dallas is also known for their lighting shows that they have a 178 00:10:51,340 --> 00:10:54,300 huge lighting show. So all the vendors are there. 179 00:10:54,820 --> 00:10:57,460 In general though, the Dallas market is smaller than Las 180 00:10:57,460 --> 00:11:00,860 Vegas, so I probably won't really need to go to that one 181 00:11:00,860 --> 00:11:04,460 again unless there's some lighting that I'm looking for. 182 00:11:05,100 --> 00:11:09,260 In preparation for high point market, I talked to several of 183 00:11:09,260 --> 00:11:12,180 my colleagues who have gone before and I found what was most 184 00:11:12,180 --> 00:11:15,540 helpful for me was actually borrowing off of their 185 00:11:15,540 --> 00:11:19,260 spreadsheets that they had made from previous markets of the 186 00:11:19,260 --> 00:11:21,300 places that they went to and where they were located. 187 00:11:21,300 --> 00:11:24,060 And I kind of was able to go through their vendor list and 188 00:11:24,500 --> 00:11:25,900 see which ones I wanted to go to. 189 00:11:25,900 --> 00:11:28,620 If there was a new one that I hadn't seen before, then I can 190 00:11:28,700 --> 00:11:31,620 mark that. And I spread it out over 3 days 191 00:11:31,620 --> 00:11:34,460 and kind of looked at the map and looked at the where the 192 00:11:34,460 --> 00:11:38,020 showrooms are located and tried to group it all in one area 193 00:11:38,020 --> 00:11:41,780 because high point market is spread out over many blocks of 194 00:11:41,780 --> 00:11:44,860 showrooms and it's not all in one place like Las Vegas. 195 00:11:45,100 --> 00:11:50,500 So it was prudent of us to try and schedule each day so that we 196 00:11:50,500 --> 00:11:52,820 are seeing things in proximity to each other. 197 00:11:53,300 --> 00:11:56,100 There is a great resource out there for those of you have 198 00:11:56,620 --> 00:12:01,380 don't have an access to maybe another designer spreadsheet and 199 00:12:01,380 --> 00:12:04,060 I did take a look at it. It is called the Cool Girls 200 00:12:04,100 --> 00:12:08,420 Guide to High Point Market And in there it kind of has the must 201 00:12:08,420 --> 00:12:11,260 see showrooms as well as some of the social events that are 202 00:12:11,260 --> 00:12:15,500 happening because there are a lot of hosted parties for 203 00:12:15,500 --> 00:12:19,620 different design celebrities who might be there speaking or 204 00:12:19,620 --> 00:12:22,950 showing their product product line that they've created that 205 00:12:22,950 --> 00:12:24,950 year. And so you can make sure and 206 00:12:24,950 --> 00:12:27,430 check out the people that you are really interested in going 207 00:12:27,430 --> 00:12:31,630 to see as well as the guide to the showrooms that you should 208 00:12:31,630 --> 00:12:35,230 probably start out looking at. And it's great resource I think 209 00:12:35,230 --> 00:12:39,430 for your first time at market. So that's market in a nutshell. 210 00:12:39,430 --> 00:12:44,110 I mean, each person's experience of market is probably different, 211 00:12:44,310 --> 00:12:49,380 but these have been my experiences and I do really like 212 00:12:49,380 --> 00:12:52,660 going to market. There's a particular smell 213 00:12:52,660 --> 00:12:55,140 you'll notice of all the new furniture is probably just the 214 00:12:55,140 --> 00:12:57,820 off gassing. But I kind of like it when I go 215 00:12:57,820 --> 00:13:01,300 into like the carpet showrooms, I'm like oh, it smells like new 216 00:13:01,300 --> 00:13:04,220 furniture. And it just like since I've done 217 00:13:04,220 --> 00:13:07,620 it so many times over the years, it just gives me a little bit of 218 00:13:07,820 --> 00:13:10,920 happy feelings whenever I I get around it again. 219 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:15,080 So it's a great time to go with other designers as well. 220 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,000 So if you get a group of you to kind of go and coordinate and 221 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,240 it's nice to have dinners together afterward, which is 222 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:24,360 something that I usually try to do meet up with other designers. 223 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:28,160 And then that's a great time to as talk about business practices 224 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:32,240 and kind of encourage each other maybe in and get some great 225 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:34,320 ideas from each other on where to go. 226 00:13:34,900 --> 00:13:38,900 So I hope that you are encouraged to go to market and 227 00:13:38,900 --> 00:13:42,460 that you can find one in your area that would be easy for you 228 00:13:42,460 --> 00:13:45,380 to get to. And I think the next market on 229 00:13:45,380 --> 00:13:49,220 my bucket list is probably Maison Obje in Paris, France. 230 00:13:49,220 --> 00:13:52,060 So hopefully one of these years I'll make it over there. 231 00:13:52,060 --> 00:13:57,020 I'm not sure exactly how beneficial Maison Obje is for my 232 00:13:57,020 --> 00:13:59,460 practice. So I need to look into it a 233 00:13:59,460 --> 00:14:01,460 little bit. I've a feeling that there's a 234 00:14:01,460 --> 00:14:05,810 lot of antiques at that market and maybe some more traditional 235 00:14:05,810 --> 00:14:09,370 looking vendors, but we'll see. So maybe I'll see you in Paris. 236 00:14:16,530 --> 00:14:19,090 So now you know what market is all about. 237 00:14:19,490 --> 00:14:23,410 I hope that you do find yourself at 1:00 and if you are planning 238 00:14:23,410 --> 00:14:26,010 to go to one, you can always give me a heads up and I would 239 00:14:26,010 --> 00:14:29,810 be happy to kind of give you some pointers and maybe a list 240 00:14:29,810 --> 00:14:32,080 of my favorite showrooms to head up. 241 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:36,520 And as always you can find everything in our show notes for 242 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:43,000 the podcast on our website ourworddesign.com/podcast and 243 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,400 you can e-mail me with any questions you have. 244 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:49,840 Podcast at our Word design.com. So that's it from me this week 245 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:51,640 Creative one. I hope you stick around for 246 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:56,280 another great episode next week to help you learn if interior 247 00:14:56,280 --> 00:15:00,400 design is the career for you and until then stay creative. 248 00:15:02,100 --> 00:15:05,100 Thanks for listening. If you love this episode, please 249 00:15:05,100 --> 00:15:07,860 leave a rating and a review. This helps me reach other 250 00:15:07,860 --> 00:15:11,620 curious creatives like you. If you have a topic request or 251 00:15:11,620 --> 00:15:14,900 would like to contact me, simply head over to my website 252 00:15:15,140 --> 00:15:21,260 rwardesign.com or e-mail me at podcast@rwardesign.com.