Hauling for NC furniture and textile plants: High Point Market and beyond

The short version

The fall 2026 High Point Market runs October 17 to 21, and some temporary exhibit spaces open a day early on October 16. Showroom freight moves in before that and out the week after. [1][2]

North Carolina had more furniture manufacturing jobs than any other state in March 2026, and more textile mill jobs too, per federal employment counts. Catawba County alone had about 7,200 furniture jobs. [19][23]

Both industries are shrinking. NC furniture jobs fell from 35,200 in August 2019 to a preliminary 26,900 in August 2026. Textile mill jobs fell from 26,100 to 19,200 over the same span. [10][11]

A 25% federal tariff on imported upholstered wooden furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities took effect October 14, 2025. Planned increases were pushed to January 1, 2027. [4][7]

Showroom docks at High Point run on appointments. At the biggest building last October, every truck needed a slot booked 24 hours ahead and got two hours at most to unload. [33]

High Point Market, fall 2026

High Point Market happens twice a year, in April and October. The High Point Market Authority counts about 2,000 exhibitors and more than 11.5 million square feet of showroom space. [27][1]

The Authority says each Market draws more than 75,000 attendees and fills more than 50,000 hotel rooms. Expect heavy car traffic and full hotels in the Triad that week. [27]

ANDMORE, which runs part of the showroom campus, says its 17 buildings hold 7 million square feet and more than 1,100 showrooms. That is ANDMORE's campus, not the whole Market. [2]

The spring 2026 Market was about even with the October before. Business of Home reported individual registrations down 0.1% and large retailers down 4%. [28]

The City of High Point closed South Main Street to through traffic between Russell and Grimes avenues for Market District road work. The schedule called for it to finish October 2, 2026, with detours via Green Drive, Elm Street, Ward Avenue and Hamilton Street. [3]

We could not confirm that the street work finished on time. If you're delivering downtown, check with your receiver for the current route in. [3]

How showroom freight works

The best public detail comes from ANDMORE's October 2025 exhibitor manual for the International Home Furnishings Center (IHFC), at 239 S. Wrenn Street. We found no 2026 manual, so treat these as last fall's rules. [33]

Every dock visit, inbound or outbound, needed an appointment booked at least 24 hours ahead. That applied to ANDMORE's own logistics team and to any carrier a tenant hired. [33]

Each truck got a maximum of two hours to load or unload, and there were no all-day appointments. A truck 30 or more minutes late lost its slot and was asked to wait in marshalling or rebook. [33]

An unscheduled shipment cost a $300 fee. Tenants who unloaded their own trucks paid $199 per truck, plus a $199 debris fee. Freight had to be palletized and shrink-wrapped. [33]

Starting three weeks before Market, inbound freight got priority over outbound. For October 2025, the last inbound trucks had to log in by 3 p.m. eight days before opening. [33]

Docks then closed the week before Market and during it. Outbound freight started at 8 a.m. the day after Market closed. Normal dock hours were 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays, closed noon to 1 p.m. [33]

If fall 2026 follows the same pattern, inbound would close around October 9 and outbound would start October 22. That is our reading of last year's manual, not a published schedule, so confirm with the building's logistics office. [33][2]

The largest freight elevator listed was 12 feet 4 inches wide, 38 feet long and 12 feet 7 inches high, rated for 35,000 pounds. Pre-built crates could be no larger than 4 by 8 by 6 feet. [33]

Where the plants are

Federal counts for March 2026 put 28,069 private furniture manufacturing jobs in NC at 805 workplaces. That is about 8.6% of the U.S. total and more than California or Texas. [19][21]

Catawba County, around Hickory, led with 7,192 furniture jobs. Randolph had 2,412, Guilford 2,332, Alexander 1,712, Caldwell 1,562 and Burke 1,127. Some counties' numbers are withheld to protect single employers. [19]

Upholstery is the core. NC had 13,318 upholstered furniture jobs, about 30% of the national total, and 6,218 of them were in Catawba County. [22][21]

Textile mills employed 19,492 in NC, about a quarter of all U.S. textile mill jobs. Gaston led with 1,625, then Alamance, Guilford, Rockingham and Burke. [23][21]

For a driver, the biggest furniture clusters sit in the Catawba, Caldwell, Alexander and Burke counties around Hickory, and in Randolph, Guilford and Davidson counties around High Point. Textile jobs are spread wider, led by Gaston and Alamance. [19][23]

Plant closures and the tariff picture

Kroehler Furniture in Conover, Catawba County, shut down around the end of December 2025, putting more than 200 people out of work. WSOC reported a drop in business and the owner's bankruptcy filing. [14]

In Kinston, MasterBrand Cabinets reported 391 layoffs to be completed by November 27, 2026, closing its value semi-custom cabinet operations. WBTV reported some operations will continue. [16]

Bossong Hosiery in Asheboro closed on September 9, 2026 after nearly a century, leaving 122 workers without jobs, ABC45 reported. [26]

Yarn maker Unifi closed its Madison plant in Rockingham County in 2025 and said it would consolidate production in North and Central America. [30]

The September 29, 2025 proclamation set a 25% tariff on certain imported upholstered wooden products and on kitchen cabinets and vanities. It took effect October 14, 2025. [4]

Rates were set to rise January 1, 2026, to 30% for upholstered furniture and 50% for cabinets and vanities. A December 2025 proclamation delayed those increases to January 1, 2027. [4][7]

Tariffs haven't brought a hiring boom. In October 2025, WFDD reported that Rock House Farm, which makes the Century and Hickory Chair brands at nine NC-area factories, had 50 factory jobs it couldn't fill. [29]

We found no public data on furniture freight volumes or rates out of NC. Don't plan around a tariff-driven rebound until your own shippers show it. [29][10]

New furniture vs. household goods

Federal rules in 49 CFR 375.103 define household goods as personal property used in a home. Furniture from a factory or store counts only if the householder asked for the move and pays for it. [9]

Our reading, not wording in the rule: new furniture a manufacturer ships to a retailer or warehouse, with the shipper paying, falls outside that definition and moves as general freight. [9]

Delivery to a buyer's home that the buyer requests and pays for can fit the household goods definition. If you haul that kind of freight, our NC household goods movers guide covers the state and federal rules. [9]

Routes and truck limits in the furniture belt

NCDOT's truck restriction table, dated March 2024, bars trucks over 26,000 pounds with three or more axles from the left two lanes of I-40 in Guilford County, from Rock Creek Dairy Road to the Alamance line. [40]

The same table bars those trucks from the leftmost lane of I-85 in Guilford, Davidson and Randolph counties, and from the left two lanes in stretches of Gaston and Mecklenburg. [40]

In Caldwell County, truck tractors with trailers are barred from NC 268 between US 321 and the Wilkes line. They're also barred from US 221 between the Avery-Caldwell line and US 321 in Blowing Rock. [40]

NC 65 between NC 68 and NC 704 in Guilford and Rockingham counties is closed to through trucks. We could not find High Point's own truck route ordinance online, so ask your receiver about city streets. [40]

Tips for furniture and textile loads

Book Market dock times early. With 24-hour minimum notice, two-hour windows and a $300 penalty for showing up unscheduled in 2025, an open appointment is worth more than an early arrival. [33]

Keep upholstered freight clean and dry. The IHFC manual required pallets and shrink wrap and said ANDMORE takes no responsibility for damage, so a clean, tight trailer protects you at the dock. [33]

Plan around Market week. With 75,000-plus visitors and more than 50,000 hotel rooms filled per Market, expect slow streets and scarce rooms in High Point from October 17 to 21. IHFC's docks were closed during Market in 2025. [27][1][33]

Watch the closures. Plants in Conover, Kinston and Asheboro have shut or cut lines since late 2025, so check that a shipper is still running before you deadhead to it. [14][16][26]