High Point Market to spotlight Hall of Fame events, new inductees

High Point will use its spring market season to turn attention back to the home furnishings industry’s biggest stage, with Hall of Fame events set to bookend a trade gathering that drives billions of dollars through North Carolina.

The Hall of Fame programming will begin Thursday, April 23, with the Paul Broyhill Leaders Awards Reception from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., when the 2026 Hall of Fame inductees will be announced. The schedule continues Saturday, April 25, with a Pathways of Honor brick dedication from 5 to 6 p.m., then closes Monday, April 27, with Preserve - Designing Cultural Memory Forward, a 2 p.m. trend seminar that will include a panel discussion.

The American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame says its induction celebration is the industry’s highest honor, and it typically recognizes only three to five people each year for leadership and outstanding achievement in U.S. home furnishings. The 2026 class page lists a long slate of names tied to the industry’s top ranks, including Jonathan Adkins of Johnson City Bedding, Jacob Bagley of Leggett & Platt, Branden Barrett of La-Z-Boy, Ali Bowmen, David Cartlidge, Scott Kahan, Kevin Malkewicz, David Niedzielski, Meredith Wylie, Josh Fenner, Aliena Klaus-Squire, Iman Shrock, Anna McGaha, Catherine Xiang, Amy Gillam, Patrick Lanier, Julie Messner, John Schultz, Steven Yang, Maggie Henning, David Lee, Christina Morrison and Jordan Smith.

For High Point, the payoff goes far beyond the ceremony. The High Point Market Authority says the spring market will run April 25-29 and spans 11.5 million square feet of showroom space, open only to the trade. Twice a year, it draws tens of thousands of visitors from more than 100 countries, putting designers, buyers, media and manufacturers into the same buildings, on the same schedules and in the same deal-making lanes.

That scale is why the market remains central to Guilford County’s economy. The authority says it has the biggest economic impact of any event in North Carolina, with materials citing 75,000 attendees and billions of dollars in annual activity. A Duke University-backed report cited by the market authority put the statewide impact at $5.39 billion.

The Hall of Fame events help High Point sell more than nostalgia. They reinforce the city’s brand as the place where the furniture industry gathers, honors its leaders and previews what comes next, from sustainability to new design trends. In a sector where visibility and relationships drive orders, High Point’s Hall of Fame week is another way the city protects its position against competing design hubs.