Exploring Life & Business with John Muldoon of COHAB.SPACE

Today we’d like to introduce you to John Muldoon

Hi John, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m originally from Alberta, Canada, and my journey began in an unexpected place: as a long-haul trucker. For a time, I even worked as an ice road trucker. But in 1990, a chance encounter opened the door to something new—an opportunity to travel to China and start a pottery factory. From there, we expanded into furniture, adding it to our portfolio. By 1998, I had started showing and warehousing our products in High Point, NC, which became a key location for our operations.

For over two decades, from 1998 to 2019, I found myself on a constant migration between China, Indonesia (where we began furniture production in 2012), and High Point. During that time, I saw a lot of growth in our business and built strong relationships, but I also witnessed how High Point, outside of its twice-yearly furniture markets, was practically dormant.

In 2019, after 29 years of constant travel and with our overseas production running smoothly under our partners, I decided it was time to make a change—not only for myself but for the city that had become a second home. That’s when I came across an old, rundown 100-year-old hosiery mill in High Point, and I saw an opportunity. I decided to restore it and create something different: COHAB.SPACE. The idea was to build a year-round creative hub that could breathe life back into the local community.

COHAB.SPACE breaks from the traditional furniture showrooms in High Point. We are open year-round and to everyone—trade professionals and the public alike. We aim to bring together furniture, art, and music in one dynamic space, fostering creativity and collaboration. Our mission is not just about selling products; it’s about creating a place where ideas, culture, and community can come together.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Of course, it’s never a smooth road, but we’ve been fortunate to have tremendous support along the way, and we’ve built an incredible team that embodies the spirit of COHAB.SPACE. High Point, like any place, has its challenges. One of the main obstacles has been the lack of a vibrant downtown, with few restaurants and even fewer hotels, which makes it difficult to sustain year-round activity.

To address this, we helped found High Point by Design (HPxD.org), an initiative with about 50 brands committed to being open throughout the year. Some are trade-only, while others are open to the public. This effort has started to create a narrative of change for High Point, but the reality is that we still have a long way to go.

In addition to revitalizing the downtown, we are also working on launching an incubator workshop to support recent design graduates. It’s our hope that by creating a successful incubator, we can entice more design professionals to move to High Point and start their careers here. We believe that bringing in fresh talent will help activate this part of the city and contribute to a more vibrant, creative community.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
All our current Employees and Partners of COHAB.SPACE SANDRA HOWELL part owner and GM of COHAB.SPACE High Point , Mathilde Liu Part Owner and Manager of CHINA Operations , Dyah Soemarno Co-owner of Blaxsand Indonesia one of the COHAB.SPACE brands

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cohab.space
• Instagram: @cohab.space
• Youtube: cohab-space