by One of the highlights of any market is the people in the industry that you get to see and spend time with during the event, whether it’s a conversation in a showroom or a reunion of sorts with industry friends during an after-business-hours party. Home News Now captured the social scene and then some at market, ranging from the celebration of industry icon Jerry Epperson’s 100th market held at the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame to the opening of the new 95,000-square-foot Bernhardt showroom in the Hamilton Design District. Below are some of the familiar faces we ran into and new friends we met along the way. P.S. And don’t forget to check out the April High Point Market mascot. It’s way at the bottom of the slideshow.
High Point Mayor Cyril Jefferson presents industry analyst and icon Jerry Epperson the Key to the City of High Point in recognition of Epperson’s 100th market.
Jerry Epperson, center, with longtime business partners W. Howard Armistead, left, and James M. Mann, right, of Mann, Armistead & Epperson, Richmond, Virginia.
Jerry Epperson, center, with Ken Smith of Smith Leonard and Tammy Covington, president and CEO of the High Point Market Authority.
Also attending the celebration of Jerry Epperson were Mike Schumann, left, Traditions, Minneapolis; Ron Wanek, Ashley Furniture; High Point Mayor Cyril Jefferson; Tammy Covington, High Point Market Authority; and Bruce Hirschhaut, Bruce Hirschhaut Designs, High Point.
Shown at the Lineage Collections party are Bert Hayes, left, DG Real Estate, High Point; Chris De Lisa, Lineage; and Scott Dunbar, Dunbar & Smith, High Point at the Lineage party.
Bruce Quillen, left, Lineage Collections; Mike Burt, Weir’s Furniture, Dallas; Ben Evans and Bob Brewer, of Mobley Fine Furniture Outlet, Perry, Georgia; and Chris De Lisa, Lineage Collections at the Lineage party.
Elaine Liu, left, and Bo Morrison, Man Wah USA; Lindsey Hoffman, Aime Fitzhugh and William Daughtrey, all of Gardner White, Warren, Michigan; and Angela Edwards, Man Wah USA, at the Man Wah party.
Shawn Miller, left, and Warren Page, Wells Fargo; Vinnie Fonti and Jesse Kotsuhoski, Ashley Furniture, Arcadia, Wisconsin; Rajan Sehgal, Furniture & Appliance Mart, Stevens Point, Wisconsin; Rachel Church, Ashley Furniture; Andy Bernstein, FurnitureDealer.net; and Bill Fonti, Group A3, Boston, at the FurnitureDealer.net party.
Richard Tucker, left, J.B. Hunt, Martinsville, Virginia; Eddie Massood, Massood Logistics, Archdale, North Carolina; and Brian Baiers, J.B. Hunt, at the FurnitureDealer.net party.
Lisa Hawkins, left, Room to Room, Tupelo, Mississippi; G. Lipscomb, Homestead Furniture; Greg Tripoli, Bassett Mirror; Amber Beene, Room to Room, Tupelo, Mississippi; and Jonathan Aguirre, Flexsteel, at the Furniture First party.
Hank Allen, left, Ashley Furniture, and Jay Hawkins, Room to Room, Tupelo, Mississippi, at the Furniture First party.
Jay Hayes, left, A-America;and Dawn Profitt, Mark Denman and Scott Patrick, all of Koalafi, Richmond, Virginia, at the Furniture First party.
Tom Schwaab, left, Howell Furniture, Beaumont, Texas; Tim Newlin, Norwalk Furniture; Wade Witt, Howell Furniture; and James Moquin, Serta Simmons Bedding and Ashley, at the Furniture First party.
Kristin Allen, left, RestyleSource, Phoenix; Bobby Robinson, Rowe Furniture; Allison VanSlyke, RestyleSource; Trent Allen and Jennifer Whittington, Found Arcadia, Phoenix; and Kacie North-Denton, RestyleSource, all attending the Rowe party.
Tavia Bernhardt, left, and Alex Bernhardt Jr., Bernhardt Furniture; with Jerry Baer, Cathy Baer, Danielle Baer, Alan Kramer and Pia Grace, all of Baer’s Furniture, Pompano Beach, Florida, attending the grand opening of the new Bernhardt showroom in High Point.
Gat Caperton, left, of Gat Creek Furniture, and Veronica Schnitzius, American Leather, at the American Leather party.
Veronica Schnitzius, left, American Leather; Jared Holeman and Scott Susott, both of Bothell Furniture, Bothell, Washington; and Gat Caperton, Gat Creek Furniture, at the American Leather party.
Erin Berg, left, of Flex2Communicate, Greensboro, North Carolina; and Tom Liddell, of Planned Furniture Promotions, at the PFP party at Centers of High Point.
Hugh Sellers, left, and Carlos Bosch, of Violino, with Steve Goldberg of Raymour & Flanigan, Liverpool, New York, at the Violino party.
Performing live at the Violino party were industry veterans Jerry Farmer on bass, Ray Allegrezza on lead guitar and Jodie Davis at right on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. On the drums is David Madore.
Melissa Favalora, left, Paula Gomez and Matthew Gomez, all of National Furniture Outlet of Westwego, Louisiana, with Jason Morein of New Classic Furniture, at the New Classic party.
Jim Whitehouse, left, and Scott Hill, New Classic Furniture, with Michael Bennett and Nina Shively, of Buddy’s Home Furnishings, Orlando, Florida, at the New Classic party.
Fawad Zavary, left, Exclusive Furniture, Houston; Scott Hill, New Classic Furniture; and Sam Zavary and Adam Zavary, Exclusive Furniture, at the New Classic party.
At the ribbon cutting for the new Adriana Hoyos showroom opening are: Ben Radoll, Ricardo Perez, Andrea Perez Hoyos, Eduardo Perez, Jr., Eduardo Perez, Sr., Adriana Hoyos, all of Adriana Hoyos; Chris Amos, Andmore and Gissele Ribero, Adriana Hoyos.
Plus here are some additional party pics from the Home News Now market kickoff party on Wednesday, April 23, at the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame. Thank you to the sponsors and everyone who came out to the event!
Attending the Home News Now party were Lauren Estep, left, American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame Foundation; Andy Bernstein, FurnitureDealer.net, and Karen McNeill, American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame Foundation.
Lauren West, left, Steinreich Communications; Tom Russell, Home News Now; Serena Martin, 247creativeagency.com; Ellen Gefen, Gefen Marketing; Kim Wray, Steinreich Communications and Amy Van Dorp, WithIt.
Heather Thompson, left, Furniture Marketing Group; Susan Jones, Steinreich Communications; and Alex Kennerly, Luxe Interiors + Design.
David Crimmins, left, Flexsteel Industries, and Kim Wray, Steinreich Communications.
Michael Uvanni, left, of Michael J. Uvanni Interiors, Rome, New York, and Ellen Gefen of Gefen Marketing.
Scott Medlin, left, and Melissa Muncy and Mark Shelley, all of event sponsors American First Finance.
Kevin Castellani, left, Lifestyle Enterprise, and Tim Newlin, Norwalk Furniture.
Steve Riley, left, of Riley Consulting Group, and Nick Byers, industry sales rep and contributor to Home News Now.
Jake Jabs, American Furniture Warehouse, Englewood, Colorado; Melissa Muncy, American First Finance and Dave Perry, Bedding News Now.
Leslie Newby, left, Work the Brand, and Andy Counts, American Home Furnishings Alliance.
From left to right are Dave Perry, editor-at-large Bedding News Now; Tom Russell, editor-in-chief Home News Now; Clint Engel, founding editor, Home News Now; Jennifer Bringle, editor-in-chief Casual News Now; Alex Milstein, editor-in-chief Bedding News Now; and Rick Harrison, founder and group publisher.
And here’s one more for the road!
This cuddly dumpster fire toy, courtesy of industry veteran journalist Waynette Goodson, was just the type of emotional support that the industry needed this market in light of tariffs and other challenges. Let’s hope that this little master of positive thinking will influence our own thought patterns and behaviors and carry us through the tough times ahead as we collectively seek to keep all the fires we face at bay!
