TUPELO,Miss.—Tupelo Furniture Market officials say they have assigned additional staff to help attendees with last-minute hotel reservations for this week's market.
Officials said hotel space in the Tupelo area is tight,but rooms are still available.They're asking attendees still needing rooms to contact the market directly as soon as possible.
"We have longstanding relationships with every hotel in the region and there will be plenty of rooms available,but finding them can be difficult if one tried to do so alone,"said market President Kevin Seddon."Our staff knows the availability of hotel rooms at most every hotel so we are asking those planning on staying overnight to book through us."
Attendees can contact housing director Joyce Collins at(800)844-0841 for additional information.
The market begins Thursday and continues through Sunday.Seddon said pre-registrations are running 35%ahead of the February 2013 market.
He said the exhibitor base also is growing,noting that more than 200 exhibitors have joined the Tupelo roster in the past 18 months.The market's 2.5 million square feet of exhibit space is nearly sold out for this week's event.
The Tupelo market has long been known as a hotbed for promotional upholstery,but Seddon said the exhibitor base has been expanding to include a wider variety of products and price points.
"Recently,we have started attracting many new buyers from further away,"he said."These buyers are on the lookout for new companies that are showcasing a variety of products at different price points."
Debbie Henry,the market's director of sales,said 54%of exhibitors are offering furniture at promotional price points,while 91%offer promotional to medium,32%offer medium,37%offer medium to high,and 7%offer high price points.
"It's clear that our exhibitors are responding to buyers'shifting preferences and many are now offering a range of products from the lower end to the higher end of the price spectrum,"Henry said."We offer just as much promotional furniture and upholstery as we have in the past;however,our buyers went to see more of everything."
