New Regional Visitors Center Opens in High Point

Gov. Pat McCrory will be in High Point Thursday for the grand opening of the new Regional Visitors Center.

The center is part of an effort to better connect the city with the surrounding communities. One of the main new features will be a service that pairs furniture buyers with designers. Tim Mabe, president and CEO of the High Point Visitors Bureau, says designers know the city's millions of square feet of showrooms and can give buyers access to them. He says it's part of a trend of once-private showrooms opening up to the consumer.

"The good thing for us here in the region is that High Point will truly become not only the furniture capital of the world, but it will be the place on the planet where you can come and have a furniture buying experience like you can't get anywhere else in the world," Mabe says.

The center will have 12 different galleries with themes about the region, covering about a 90-mile radius from High Point. It will include interactive kiosks featuring such things as music from well-known area musicians like John Coltrane.

Last year, a study by Duke University found that the furniture market has an economic impact of more $5 billion in the Piedmont.