The True Grit of Hickory, North Carolina

On a recent in-market trip to Hickory, North Carolina I was welcomed by friendly faces and helping hands. While on Union Square, even those passers-by who didn’t really have time to talk, slowed down long enough to point out the closest coffee shop or restaurant . . . and always with a smile! True examples of Southern hospitality. But as we drove around Hickory and heard the stories of its past, I realized that the people of Hickory are much more than just a friendly smile. Behind every kind smile – actually, behind the city itself – is a core of determination nothing short of that found in the characters of True Grit. (Sorry for the movie reference . . . the remake is coming out soon and I have it on my mind.)

For example, tales of Hickory’s once-thriving furniture industry abound. As the North Star team explored and discovered the city, our guide shared the stories of how that thriving industry had seen manufacturing jobs move overseas and lesser quality products steal market share from Hickory’s high-quality furniture meant to last a lifetime.

But did Rooster Cogburn (again with the True Grit) let a little adversity slow him down? No sir! Like the people of Hickory, he persevered and adapted. And the “more than a million square feet” of the present-day Hickory Furniture Mart is a testament to that adaptation. This huge complex boasts over 100 stores and welcomes more than 500,000 visitors a year from all over the world. Now, I have to admit I’m not much of a furniture guy, but the Hickory Furniture Mart made me wish I was. (And more specifically, made me wish I had a new brown leather chair.) We walked through the seemingly endless complex to see the limitless furniture choices . . . from desks to sofa, from beds to candy-covered chairs, from things I never knew existed (like SpongeBob Square Pants mattresses) to things I decided I couldn’t live without.

Hickory didn’t let its furniture industry die; it just adapted. The city’s citizens weren’t defeated by manufacturing jobs moving overseas or anything else for that matter. Hickory, once a town of furniture manufacturing, is now not only the county’s central hub for shopping, dining, education, and medical treatment, but also one of the central hubs in the world for furniture shopping. A wide range of people from everyday Americans (like me) to international leaders such as the First Lady of Ukraine have made Hickory a world-class shopping destination. I learned not to underestimate a small Southern town just because her citizens don’t mind telling you the location of the nearest gas station or how they got the nickname “Squally”.

It made me wonder: how many communities out there have Hickory-sized potential hidden beneath their hard knocks? How is your community making the best of its down times? What are the unrealized possibilities for the place you call home?

~ Anthony Domine

Community Branding: Hickory, North Carolina

The North Star Destination Strategies' team recently got underway with a community branding project in Hickory, North Carolina. During our visit we spent some time walking around the beautiful downtown area where we had the opportunity to meet some folks and ask them to describe Hickory in three words. Check out the video to hear what people had to say!

What makes destination marketing special?

A few months ago, I sat in a college classroom in Dahlonega, GA with over 100 other eager students. For a week, my classmates and I stayed in dorms, ate in the cafeteria together, and sat through class after class of various subjects, bonding together as any college class does. But we weren’t there for actual college; all of us are working professionals who graduated from our universities years if not decades earlier. We were there for the Southeast Tourism Society’s Marketing College. For destination marketing professionals from all over the southeastern states, STS Marketing College is the premier educational program for the tourism industry in the U.S.. That means it’s THE place to go to learn about anything and everything to do with marketing a destination directly from the experts who know the most about it.

The funny thing is, to a certain extent everyone in that room was competing for the same consumers. Coming from a corporate background, this was at first a mystery to me. As destination marketers, everyone’s goal is to attract more visitors to their specific community (well, not everyone—my goal is to help them understand those visitors through research). I tried to imagine professionals from Kraft, General Mills, Nestle, Pepsico, and Kellogg spending a week bonding and learning about how to attract more consumers, sharing information and helping each other with their specific consumer issues—the idea was laughable. In a world where the #1 rule is to protect and grow your market share, sharing of information is frowned upon at best and illegal at worst.

It’s different working with destinations. Consumers don’t necessarily recognize community and regional lines, and decisions on where to travel often involve factors like proximity and awareness of offerings. It’s to the benefit of everyone, producer and consumer alike, that regions work together to increase awareness of their little corner of the world. Besides, unlike consumers of food products, who often remain loyal to one or another, visitors experience many different communities and are always looking for something new. The possibilities for finding a new place to experience are almost endless, so marketing a destination effectively is critical for attracting them.

STS Marketing College taught me more than just marketing techniques—it taught me about professional cooperation and collaboration and left me with an invaluable network in the tourism industry. Turns out going back to college isn’t all that bad—at least when it’s STS Marketing College.

~ Shannon Gray