313 Space offers a modern twist on showroom design

Complex introduces some 60-plus new tenants, including many that are showing for the first time in High Point

HIGH POINT — The new 155,000-square foot 313 Space at 313 S. Centennial St. aims to offer buyers coming to the October High Point Market a new and elevated market experience with a host of specialty vendors showing in a thoughtfully designed and repurposed showroom complex offering plenty of space to shop, relax and grab a quick snack, all in the same location.

Rudi Nijseen and Dominique Sente

The complex, a former Hosiery Mill dating back about 100 years, was developed by building owners Rudi Nijseen and Dominique Sente, who also founded lighting, furniture and décor specialist Schwung Home in 2014. Today, Schwung occupies about 40,000 square feet on the 80,000-square-foot first floor of the building, along with outdoor furniture specialist Dedon, whose showroom and U.S. headquarters occupies about 10,000 feet.

This market, more than 60 additional indoor furniture, accessory, lighting  and décor brands will be showing in a combined 45,000 square feet on the second floor, filling up an estimated 90% of the space in that part of the building. Some of these tenants, including a few South African companies, are showing in the U.S. for the first time.

In addition to Dedon, there are several other well-known outdoor furniture brands, including Harbour Outdoor, Mecox Gardens and Gloster Design, also showing in the building.

“The list of companies came from a lot of different angles,” Nijseen told Home News Now. “This is a group of companies we like because they make beautiful things. We like their designs and their products and the people.

“We also care about the planet so we also try to contact companies that have a good sustainability story. So it is based on the quality of the products they are making and their practices.”

A view of the first and second floor of 313 Space

And as the project deals with the reuse of an existing building, it serves as a real-life example of sustainability that’s also preserving part of High Point history.

Dating back to 1921, the building originally served as the former headquarters of Slane Hosiery. According to a March 2023 article in the High Point Enterprise, the sock manufacturer had been shifting its operations from the facility to another site in High Point since 2012 and had put the building up for sale in the spring of 2023. The owners of Schwung Home purchased it in October 2023.

“When we acquired the building it was a fully operating hosiery mill, with 400 knitting machines and a dye room and space to manufacture everything,” Nijseen said, adding that in gutting the building, “we discovered over 100 original windows that were all bricked over. We uncovered and opened up most of them again.”

Sitting on about 6.5 acres, the building has been restored to include many of its original features, including hardwood floors, tall wooden ceilings and beams as well as the original windows that let in plenty of natural light. It also has a garden area with seating where people can relax and a café area where people can grab a snack and a drink. Food trucks also will be on-site each day of market from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

A view of the landscaped outdoor garden area which features plenty of seating

“It’s a new, fresh and beautifully designed building that has been tailored to offer a next-level shopping experience,” said Shannon Maldari, a spokesperson for the project. “This building has been curated to create an intentional shopping experience with luxury brands.”

She noted that the mix of new tenants includes companies that not only offer a sustainability story in their product mix, but also many of which that are new to the High Point Market.

“So there is going to be a lot of newness and freshness that people who have gone to High Point year over year have never seen before,” she said, adding that the complex also offers buyers an inviting place to shop, with plenty of spaces to relax and unwind between showroom visits.

Another view of the interior of 313 Space

“They have not only invested a lot into what the building looks like architecturally on the interior and exterior — it is also beautifully manicured in terms of its landscaping,” Maldari said, noting that the “space is going to be very welcoming to shoppers and it’s going to have an ultra-luxury feel.”

She added that the audience will largely be designers, but also many other buyers from retailers large and small alike that are looking for something new in the market.

“It’s really unlike anything that exists in High Point at the moment,” she said. “We want it to be a destination for everyone.”

Nijseen agreed, noting that he and Dominique are designers at heart, she a student of goldsmithing and he a seller of high-end antiques earlier in his career. The building, he noted, is emblematic of what they are doing today in upcycling and repurposing old antiques and “giving things a new life.”

“This evolved into a great thing,” he said of the 313 Space complex. “We love old buildings, renovating history and making things go on for another 100 years. … We want this to be a great community.”

At market, the building will be open Oct. 23-30. For a full list of tenants, click here.

Thomas Russell

Home News Now Editor-in-Chief Thomas Russell has covered the furniture industry for 25 years at various daily and weekly consumer and trade publications. He can be reached at tom@homenewsnow.com and at 336-508-4616.

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