New president of High Point Market Authority prepares for first event under her leadership

The High Point Furniture Market that begins Saturday will be the first under the leadership of Tammy Nagem. She has worked for the High Point Market Authority for more than 20 years and this year took over the reins as president and CEO.

Wake Forest University student Aria Heyneman is covering the market in partnership with WFDD. She spoke with Nagem about her new role, including her deep personal ties to the industry.

"I have sawdust in my veins," she says. "I grew up with a furniture family. My dad worked for Bassett Furniture for many years. And I grew up in Martinsville, Virginia — so in a town that on every corner there was a furniture company."

Nagem explained how the pandemic disrupted the market just as the industry saw a surge in demand, and what she wants to see in the first market under her leadership.

Interview Highlights:

On how the pandemic led to the cancellation of the Spring 2020 event:

"That was only the second time market had been canceled in its over 100-year history. The other time was for World War II. So, sitting around the table with our leadership and deciding to cancel a market felt monumental. ... And it was very hard because our industry at the same time is experiencing this huge growth where, you know, sales are out the roof. That October market was tough. We're usually a five-day market; we made it a nine-day market so we could spread the crowd out. That was the longest nine days in history." 

On her goals for the Spring 2023 market:

"So, I think for us it is delivering an experience for our buyer that they feel like was productive and worth their time coming and that they can make their business better as a result of being here. Education — we do a lot of educational seminars. And then the last would be networking, we see that as a huge benefit to coming to market."

On barriers to reaching those goals:

"Right now is tough. A lot of people are struggling with staffing and labor shortages — and so both on the buyer and the seller side, making the investment and the time to be in High Point. It's a longer show. We start Saturday and go through Wednesday. Our average buyer is here three and a half days. So it is sometimes a challenge, I think for our customer to take time away to actually be here. Right now it's potentially easy to just buy from reps or find other ways to purchase product. But home furnishings is one of those things that it's better experienced. You need to sit on it, you need to feel the fabric, you want to hear the story from the folks who made that product so that when you go to resell it, that you are able to pass along those things to the end consumer."

On what makes High Point suited to host a major international market:

"We know how to deliver a product here that welcomes people to town. We were Airbnb before anybody knew what Airbnb was. People were renting homes in High Point just because we don't have enough hotels. And so there are people who've opened their homes to market guests for 30 years. They've had the same people come or the same company rent them. I also think we're a little bit scrappy, you know, there have been other cities who've tried to take our market: New York, Chicago, Las Vegas. They've all tried. And at the end of the day when the going gets tough, this community comes together and says 'No, no, no, this is our market.'"