Atlanta Furniture Show Recap

Whew! I cannot tell you how amazing the Atlanta furniture show was. Three massive buildings, connected by glass bridges, housing everything from furniture to women's clothing.

One word about Atlanta: you will get lost. The streets near the center of the city always run in weird angles, and one-way, making travel very confusing. It's entirely possible that we spent a full day lost in the halls of AmericasMart and the streets in Atlanta. The city is surprisingly quiet at night, which I suppose is good for convention attendees and furniture journalists that are thoroughly exhausted after a single day's work.

We met with everyone, from the biggest merchandise groups to the smallest buyers. We came away from the show with an amazing amount of informations, open lines of communication with wonderful people, and a greater understanding of how manufacturers view the marketplace when designing and distributing furniture.

As I type, our photo editor is at work transferring all of our still images into our database, and will soon be digitizing 6 days of video footage in real time. As soon as we can start making photo selections for our articles, a landslide of awesome stuff is headed your way.

A common theme heard from exhibitors is that Atlanta fosters a wider range of buyers than High Point, which is strictly furniture, and Vegas, which is less hospitable to antique and traditional furniture. A really great guy you should meet if you're in Atlanta is Mike Howarth from Englishman's, who will get recognition in several articles and video pieces for his outstanding work.

Hang tight, people. The good stuff's coming.