International Market Centers (IMC) announced today a $33.5 million capital investment in its High Point Market properties, including a dynamic new arrival experience for the International Home Furnishings Center (IHFC) Commerce entrance as well as customer-facing renovations and refurbishments to several of its other downtown High Point properties. These enhancements, which are part of IMC’s broader three-year, cross-campus capital investment strategy, reflect IMC’s longstanding commitment to growing and enriching High Point Market and the surrounding community.
“Re-investment is essential to drive continual growth, relevance and the value proposition of attending Market,” said Bob Maricich, CEO of IMC. “Our recently announced initiatives in Las Vegas, Atlanta, and now High Point, underscore IMC’s mission to create exceptional markets of enduring value for the furnishings, home decor, gift and apparel industries.”
The cornerstone of the initiative is a $14.4 million remodel of IHFC — High Point Market’s largest property which features hundreds of the industry’s biggest brands in 3.5 million square feet of permanent showrooms and the celebrated InterHall temporary collection. Plans include a gracious and modernized arrival experience featuring a reimagined façade, an open and inviting lobby, and a more functional registration area. Other planned IHFC enhancements include the addition of new state-of-the-art meeting and lounge facilities, upgrades to the IHFC Main food court and office areas, renovation of the 11th Floor Ballroom, and refurbishment of common areas and restrooms throughout the building’s 14 floors. The IHFC upgrades have already begun and will be implemented over several phases with all scheduled for completion by the Fall 2021 Market.
"With its positioning at the nexus of the Transportation Center and its high-profile roster of 450 exhibitors, IHFC attracts significant and sustained Market traffic,” said Scott Eckman, President of Furniture and Home Décor for IMC. “The planned improvements will better serve the needs of the buyers and suppliers doing business there.”
In addition to this new capital commitment, since its founding in 2011, IMC has invested more than $80 million in High Point Market and the surrounding community. This figure includes new construction and acquisitions, renovations and refurbishments to existing properties, leasehold improvements, as well as overall infrastructure enhancements and upgrades.
High-impact projects in recent years have included: construction of 129 S. Hamilton St. (Eichholtz building); acquisitions of the C&D Building, 300 E. Green St. and the coming acquisition of 121 N. Hamilton St.; and renovation and refurbishments to IHFC, Showplace, C&D Building, 200 N. Hamilton St. and 300 E. Green St.
“We are thrilled to participate in the economic development occurring in the City of High Point, not just through capital improvements to our own properties, but also through community engagement and investment,” added Maricich. “Through our support of projects such as the entrepreneur center HP365 and the BB&T Point baseball stadium in downtown High Point, IMC reinforces its deep commitment to the home of the home furnishings industry.”
The nearly 20 local charitable organizations supported by IMC’s volunteer activities and monetary donations include: Always a Lady, American Heart Association, A Simple Gesture, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Central Piedmont, Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater High Point, High Point Regional Hospital, Hospice of the Piedmont, JDRF, March of Dimes, Open Door Ministries, Pink Cares Piedmont, Reading Connections, Salvation Army Backpack Campaign, Theatre Art Galleries, United Way, West End Ministries, Women in Motion of High Point and YWCA.
IMC’s $280 million capital investment plan – announced in January 2019 – includes category enrichment and extension, launch of new verticals, strategic remerchandising of existing resources, digital and mobile platform enhancements, and physical improvements in arrival areas and public spaces across its three campuses in High Point, Las Vegas and Atlanta. Related projects include construction of the EXPO at World Market Center Las Vegas, a new 315,000-square-foot exhibition tradeshow facility on its Las Vegas campus and “Atlanta Next,” a multi-stage capital and strategic investment plan that will transform the Atlanta business through enrichment of all categories and improvements to all three AmericasMart buildings. IMC also will launch a unified CRM system that will enable IMC to better capture, manage and analyze audience data across all of its markets.
High Point Market is the largest furnishings industry trade show in the world, with more than 2,000 manufacturers in 11.5 million square feet of showroom and exhibit space in multiple buildings in downtown High Point, North Carolina. Each Market attracts tens of thousands of retail home furnishings buyers, interior designers, architects, and others in the home furnishings industry. International Market Centers owns the vast majority of the prime High Point Market showroom and exhibit real estate, which contain seventy percent of the exhibitors, including the majority of the top 500 manufacturers. Fall 2019 High Point Market runs Oct. 19 to 23, 2019.
