Each year, more than 300,000 people from all over the United States descend on towns in the middle of North Carolina for one reason: The state is a shopper's paradise.
Around Hickory, High Point, Lenoir and other towns, more than 500 manufacturers turn out about 60 percent of the furniture made in the country. You can choose from a much wider selection than you're likely to find in any one store or in many whole communities.And you can save a lot of money, even when you add in the cost of airfare, lodging and meals. Retailers in North Carolina routinely shave 40 percent to 60 percent off the manufacturer's suggested retail price on custom orders. You can save 70 percent or more on floor models, discontinued items and overstock, either at clearance centers or during special sales.
You don't have to have a contact in the trade to shop for furniture in North Carolina. Anyone can do it, but you must be willing to work a little harder at your furniture shopping than you would if you were dealing with a retailer on your home turf.
To discourage window shoppers who take their business to North Carolina, as well as other comparison shoppers, many sellers outside North Carolina remove manufacturers' names from tags and scramble or disguise style and item numbers. So if you browse in furniture stores in your hometown with an eye to ordering more cheaply from a North Carolina retailer, you may have a hard time gathering all the details you need.
Long-distance shopping works especially well if you are after one or two specific pieces. Identify what you want - the manufacturer, fabrics and line and item numbers - before you contact a retailer. Even if you can't give all the particulars, experienced salespeople will work with you by mail, phone and fax.
If you decide to shop in person, request furniture-shoppers' information packets from the High Point Convention and Visitors Bureau, P.O. Box 2273, High Point, NC 27261 (910) 884-5255 and the Hickory Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, P.O. Box 1828, Hickory, NC 28603 (800) 849-5093.
You can also get leads from a number of Internet sites, including North Carolina Furniture Online (http://ncnet.com/ncnetworks/furn-onl.html), the Hickory Furniture Mart home page (http://www.webcom.com/hickory) and the Atrium Furniture Mall (http://www.webpress.net/furniture).