Furniture First national buying group has announced that booth and table sponsorships for their 2014 Symposium are sold out. The event will be held May 12-14, 2014 at the Harbor Beach Marriott in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The theme for this event, “Waves of Change, Oceans of Opportunity,” was inspired by the location for the meeting as well as the current retail climate. Members will participate in peer-to-peer and vendor-led networking sessions, attend presentations given by retail experts, and learn from inspiring keynote speakers.
The group’s previous Symposium, held in May 2013 in New Orleans, was their most successful Symposium to date. It broke all of Furniture First’s Symposium attendance records and was enthusiastically received by members and vendors alike. “Following the success of our last Symposium, 2014 is on track to be even better,” commented Bill Hartman, President of Furniture First. “Member attendance is up 12% over last year, and vendor attendance is up 43%. Increased interaction among our member retailers and vendor partners is the focus of events like the Symposium, and the programming is designed to encourage it. Our dealers come away with new insights, tools, and ideas as a result of these exchanges.”
To help promote and organize the event, Furniture First has built a Symposium microsite. This website, built in-house by Furniture First staff, highlights the meeting agenda and session descriptions, provides guest speaker bios, lists local restaurants and attractions, and allows members to register online.
At the upcoming April High Point Market, Furniture First’s showroom, IHFC G-770, will feature merchandise in a variety of categories from their vendor partners, including custom dining and custom upholstery programs. Members will attend group shops, a seminar by Internet advertising partner Netsertive and a presentation on Furniture First’s new Mattress 1st Store Concept – a store-within-a-store specialty sleep gallery.
Furniture First is a 20-year-old national “Home Furnishings & Mattress” only buying group serving the over $2 million full line independent home furnishings retailer. Furniture First has 211 company members representing 444 store fronts and $1.7 billion in retail sales. For more information on Furniture First, please call Bill Hartman at 800-411-3477 ext. 123 or email BHartman@FurnitureFirst.com.