SHELTER SAVANT.

Jeff Harris joined High Point University President Nido Qubein in the Power List interview, a partnership for discussions with some of the state's most influential leaders. Interview videos are available at www.businessnc.com.

Jeff Harris is CEO and co-owner of Furnitureland South, the nation's biggest single-location furniture store. Furnitureland South has about 600 employees, including 160 consultants who advise customers on how to buy furniture that fits their particular needs and homes. He earned a marketing degree and played baseball at High Point University. He and his wife, Stacey, have three children. Harris and his brother, Jason, also own The Design Network streaming service. This story includes excerpts from Harris' interview and was lightly edited for clarity.

Give us a capsule view of Furnitureland South.

It is a 54-year old business. I am second generation. Our daughter is now third generation. We're the largest furniture store in the world and we are located in the furniture capital of the world. High Point. We have 1.3 million square feet of display space and showrooms at one location. That's the world's largest.

Customers come from all over because you offer tremendous choice and better pricing, right?

Absolutely. North Carolina has long been known as a place to get great prices on furniture. There's so much manufacturing that has taken place in our great state of North Carolina, and over time, retail spawned out of that. Our cost of materials and labor was lower, so we were able to offer tremendous pricing to consumers that would travel here. Probably 65% of our business comes from consumers who reside outside of North Carolina.

How do you strike relationships with furniture makers? How does the system work?

We represent over a thousand brands of furniture, accessories, rugs and lighting that are made all over the world. The High Point Furniture Market is the largest trade show in the industry and it's held every April and October. It's buyers and sellers, interior designers. The people that are in the business. It's not open to the public. When our parents started the business, one of their goals was to bring this incredible market that's not open to the consumers. That's one of the reasons that we built the buildings as big as we have so that it allows for this broad array of furniture categories: different brands, products, styles and price points. There's not a day that goes by that we don't get solicited for a new...