[Transcript]
Kelsie Coltrane:
Sustainability means a ton of things to me. Not just sustainability in the traditional sense of recycling, but also thinking about just our general impact on the planet.
Bobby Robinson:
I think first and foremost, it means quality.
Katie Gumerson:
Long-lasting furniture that can be passed down from generation to generation.
Anne Flynn Wear:
So it's very broad. So it's interesting when people say "sustainability," you really have to know what specific area are you talking about.
Robert Frederick:
Greetings from High Point, North Carolina. Why is a Bentley dealer -- a luxury well-appointed car dealer -- in a town of 100,000 people? Because of the furniture market: You want a well-appointed car because you want a well-appointed home. And the furniture deals that happen here -- and the commission for a big sale -- might just lead you to want to go out and buy a Bentley to celebrate.
Welcome to the High Point Furniture Market -- a week in spring and a week in fall each year where furniture, the furniture industry, the home furnishings industry takes over this smaller town of 100,000 people, swells its ranks, and enlivens the city all with the purpose of selling, marketing, discussing trends in the furniture industry and home furnishings.
Anne Flynn Wear:
My name is Anne Flynn Wear, and I work for the home furnishings department, Bridgetower Media. And I write for several publications: Home Accents Today, Furniture Today, Designers Today.
Bobby Robinson:
My name is Bobby Robinson and I'm the president of Rowe Furniture. There's 10 million tons of furniture that go in the landfill every year in the U.S. So there's a whole host of things that we look at in terms of sustainability.
Kelsie Coltrane:
Kelsie Coltrane. I work for Glen Raven specifically focus -- I work with our Sunbrella flagship brand -- and I'm really focused on our furnishings business unit. And then just brand overall. I'm on the marketing team.
Katie Gumerson:
Katie Gumerson, A.R.T. Furniture in High Point, North Carolina. I think in furniture in my world, sustainability has a lot to do with -- maybe not saving forests or, you know, using all ecologically friendly materials, but it's also a lot about creating furniture that has a lifespan to it. Particularly in our world right now and what we're trying to accomplish in our company is to create long-lasting furniture that can be passed down from generation to generation.
Anne Flynn Wear:
Now you hear "fast furniture" and "fast clothing" and where it's sourced. [Sustainability means] maybe paying tribute to the artisans who are making things, honoring the craft. So I think it can -- and also reusing there's different, I know, but there's furniture factories that reuse their wood and use it to heat the building or they use it to make other things. So "repurposing," that's the word. I knew I knew the word. But, you know, so it's very broad. So it's interesting when people say sustainability, you really have to, you know, what specific area are you talking about?
Robert Frederick:
One of the things that is reused as well, in the sustainability here is the reuse of old buildings. This was originally a hosiery building, now a furniture store, obviously. And it was a famous one because the first Nike sock was made here.
"Emergency" U.S. Tariffs
Kelsie Coltrane:
Our presence as a US manufacturer is really helping us ensure stability during a time like this. There's a lot of uncertainty, but we're working with our partners to ensure that we are providing them unwavering service on which they come to depend on us.
Bobby Robinson:
Even as a domestic maker, costs are going up. While a lot of finished goods have really moved out of China and they moved to areas like Vietnam or Indonesia, a lot of the supply chain is still in China. So, you know, we're a domestic maker. But we still rely on, you know, 35 to 40% of our fabrics are from China. And so it's caused a lot of disruption. But, you know, our brand, we always want to be open and honest. And we created this tool for our customers here at market, so they wouldn't have a really volatile experience. We're calling it our "textile volatility scale." So we just want them to know that we're breaking our fabrics into three categories. And then we took the effort before the show to let them know exactly what they're getting so that we don't move the goalposts once they purchase this for their store and then the price raises overnight on them.
Anne Flynn Wear:
So the companies I've spoken with, with the 10% tariffs, say that's an easy one to overcome. They can do a part of it and the suppliers won't do a part of it. It's when it gets up to the 20-25% range that price increases have to come because there's no other way to stay in business. And so that's where the challenge is. And so I think people are worried about in July. So will they happen in July? Will they not happen in July? And the one thing with business is it needs to be -- you can work toward a known, but it's very hard to work toward an unknown. So one quote I did hear was, "we had a five-year plan, and now we have a five-day plan."
Katie Gumerson:
Yeah, we would rather not have to guess. It's actually quite disruptive to our business. It's a bit scary. We all went into furniture market 'this is our Super Bowl that happens twice a year, and we knew that the tariff conversation was going to happen a lot.' And we were a little concerned by that. But then after we kind of settled in, our customers were also kind of confused and unsure of where we're going to go and where the tariffs are going to land. So it's sort of business as usual. And each company is handling it differently. But it's been less disruptive than we had initially kind of thought it would be. But until we figure out what it really is, because we're just in limbo.
Kelsie Coltrane:
Yeah. I think it's impossible for anyone to answer that question and say that it hasn't impacted them, whether it's professionally or personally. You know, I think everyone's tired of hearing "unprecedented times," right, at this point.
Robert Frederick:
Normally, this street is dead silent because normally all of these shops are closed. High Point Market comes to town in the fall and in the spring, and the city transforms. So normally I could stand out in the middle of this street and not be hit by a single car. But here, now, cars all the time, not a parking spot to be found.
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