Ty Pennington kicks off market with morning press conference
Senator Kay Hagan expresses support for High Point Market
By Jenny Heinzen York -- Home Accents Today, 4/25/2009 12:42:00 PM
The High Point Market Authority got the market officially under way on Saturday with a pair of press conferences with celebrity guests from the TV and political worlds.
First off, a presentation from TV star Ty Pennington, host of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition at Noble’s restaurant. Later, High Point Mayor Becky Smothers and U.S. Senator Kay Hagan addressed a crowd at the High Point Theater. In between, attendees were literally marched down Main Street, accompanied by a drum line from N.C. A&T State University.
Pennington said the marketplace has changed dramatically due to the economy, and the furnishings business had better be ready to change with it.
“Instead of “I gotta have it,’” he said, “it’s what do I really need?
“When you have a problem like this crisis, you need to have a solution. The issues facing this industry aren’t restricted to lower-end consumers. I think that this industry can’t let the change pass us by. We have to realize that change is here.”
He said the key to reaching consumers right now is to understand their lifestyles – including their use of technology, their desires for simplicity in their lives, and the need for furnishing to serve a function beyond decoration.
“People now are caring about the money that they spend,” he said. “They are less interested in getting cool stuff fast. They are more interested in getting good stuff that lasts.”
He said that though this economy presents a challenge, it’s a real opportunity for the creative thinkers to devise solutions.
“It’s a scary time,” he said. “But fear can bring out creativity and innovation, and change.”
Democratic freshman Senator Kay Hagan was formerly a N.C. State Senator, and in that role, was active in the Legislature on matters concerning the market.
Now that she’s in Washington, she said, that commitment to this event will not change.
“I promise you right here and now that you have no more vocal and advocate in Washington than me,” Hagan said, adding that she will work to ensure that “the High Point Market is the premier marketplace and showroom long, long into the future. That’s what I told (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid when I got to Washington, D.C.”
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