HPxD looks to make High Point a year-round design destination | Home Accents Today

HIGH POINT – A group of design-oriented home furnishings brands and industry professionals has formed High Point by Design, an organization that seeks to transform High Point a year-round destination for interior designers, retail buyers and design aficionados.

HPxD emerged from a series of Saturday meetings that began in March. Presently, the group comprises 14 early-adopter brands with plans to begin this transformation in a series of phased steps beginning in September, in partnership with the High Point Market Authority.

High Point brands involved currently include Oly Studio, Bobo Intriguing Objects, Verellen, Schwung Home, Mr Brown London, South + English, Red Egg, Cohab.Space, Mill Collective, Branch Home, Splashworks, 214 Modern Vintage, The Royals Project and Randall Tysinger Antiques.

HPxD seeks to evolve the city from hosting a twice-annual show to a vibrant year-round design destination. Membership guidelines include participation in calendared events, phased introduction of regular showroom hours and absolute commitment to maintaining preferred pricing structure for trade customers, interior designers and retail accounts.

HPxD is inspired by European models such as the United Kingdom’s Clerkenwell and Holland’s Eindhoven, where defining trade shows and year-round design activity work synergistically to energize and inspire the trade, home fashion enthusiasts, students, creators and the community itself.

“The time is right to start redefining what High Point is,” said Tom Verellen, CEO of Verellen and among the HPxD founders. “Can our showrooms engage designers and retailers during robust market times and beyond? We know so. Will shoppers with a passion for interiors be interested HPxD 1 in seeing our brand flagships? We think so. Will we get their juices flowing? Bullseye. What does a bigger, city-wide and ongoing design experience in High Point look like? We want to find out.

“These are liberating ideas with boundless potential, especially as all of Verellen’s upholstery, occasional and accessories are handmade here in your backyard, which is a true badge of honor.”

Richmond, Va., interior designer Gary Inman also has been part of HPxD since inception, representing the voice of the design community in the group’s many meetings.

“High Point Market is essential,” Inman said. “But as the city opens and emerges as a true design hub, it will be a more important part of the designer’s toolbox, day in and out. At heart, HPxD is really a celebration of design and the profession of interior design.”

While unique organizations, HPxD and High Point Market share natural synergies, most fundamentally, a commitment to the sustenance and growth of the furniture industry in the city of High Point and the state of North Carolina. Both organizations recognize the need for change and innovation to secure the future.

“As always, our goal is to move the market forward. HPxD asks us all to reconsider traditional paradigms, which will be good for the market, the world of design and the city,” said Tom Conley, president/CEO of the High Point Market Authority. “I’ve watched the HPxD initiative with keen interest from day one. It’s great to see innovation percolate at the showroom level. It’s a sign of vitality.”

To learn more, visit HPxD’s preliminary website. A complete website will launch later this month. Showroom participation is by invitation. For consideration, please e-mail hello@hpxd.org.robust.