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Blog: Fast times

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What if they held a Premarket and no one came?

That’s what happened this week in High Point. Well, almost no one came to the event, which was “canceled,” officially anyway. Apparently, retailers took the cancellation seriously: I spent Monday visiting 10 showrooms and didn’t see a single retailer. Vendors who opened up told me they still had appointments with major buyers as late as Friday, but most of those ditched their plans to attend over the weekend.

I wrote a column, “A different kind of Premarket,” that appeared in this week’s print edition. When I filed it last week, Premarket was still a go, and it looked to be the largest such event in years, with 72 non-sponsoring exhibitors tagging along with the 17 sponsoring showrooms. You won’t see that column online, as it became dated in just a few days, and what was looking to be a mega-Premarket ended up a ghost town.

It just goes to show how quickly and how heavily the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting everyone and every industry.

That said, there was plenty to talk about with vendors: How are their supply chains and production holding up in the face of travel and transport restrictions, and delayed production in Asia? What are the implications of two major trade shows — High Point, now officially scheduled to open June 12, and Las Vegas the following month — taking place in such proximity? How are they communicating with customers in an environment where face-to-face contact is limited?

Here at Furniture Today, we’re going through our own disruption, with our staff working remotely. We’re learning new methods of communication among ourselves and with the industry, and we’ll be using those to keep our audience informed on COVID-19’s impacts the furniture business, how retailers and manufacturers are coping and other, hopefully positive developments.

The post Blog: Fast times appeared first on Furniture Today.


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