Market tries to cushion the fall.

• Position: Triad

It's no surprise that High Point Market President Brian Casey wants to put the best face on the city's fall furniture show. But he's also a realist. "People came in with low expectations, and I think it exceeded them. Attendance was a little softer this year, but activity was pretty brisk. It was a very good market overall."

That participants had low expectations for the market, which backers say contributes more than $1.1 billion to the state's economy, is putting it mildly. Given the credit crunch and the real-estate slowdown, the furniture industry isn't exactly thriving. Orders were down 10% through July compared with the first seven months of 2007, according to High Point-based furniture consultant Smith Leonard PLLC. Not a good lead-in for this year's fall market, which ran from Oct. 20-26.

Sure enough, only 76,403 registered for the market, down about 9% from last year's event. Despite the lower numbers, Casey says, "Attendance at many of the seminars was robust, and some were sellouts." The same held true, he says, for the market's entertainment, which included performances by Peter Frampton and KC and the Sunshine Band. "They turned some people away."

It wasn't all seminars and concerts. Some buyers, including a contingent from Jordan, were active, he says. "Some companies said it was one of their best markets for...