High Point, North Carolina, known as the “Furniture Capital of the World,” has seen a significant decline in its furniture manufacturing sector over the past forty years, with production moving to countries with lower labor costs. Despite this, the city has maintained its status as a global hub for furniture design through the biannual High Point Market, where visitors from over one hundred nations explore twelve million square feet of innovative design. Formerly bustling downtown buildings have been transformed into stylish showrooms, although many remain vacant between expos. In this ethnographic study, John Joe Schlichtman examines High Point's evolution after it outmaneuvered Chicago in the 1960s to become the leading furniture center. In recent years, private equity firms have increasingly influenced downtown real estate, culminating in a 2011 acquisition by a Bain Capital-funded firm that consolidated ownership of major showroom buildings. Schlichtman’s work highlights the themes of exclusionary growth and unchecked development, revealing how the city struggles to adapt to the loss of its factories. He explores broader lessons from High Point’s deindustrialization and its transformation into a key player in furniture fashion and design, shedding light on local power dynamics and community responses to external influences.
