In its 20th year as Payne Street Imports, the high-end ceramics, lamps and accent furniture vendor is changing its name to The Breece Collection.

Offering imported merchandise from Asia was considered exotic when his partners named the company but the recent flux of importing called for an update, said Jim Breece, owner, president and CEO.

"The philosophy behind it is the change in what's happening in the industry," Breece said. "The concept that there's anything exotic necessarily because it's imported has gone by the wayside."

Although exotic products still exist, Breece said, "More the issue now, which is imbedded in the name, is who's sifting through all the merchandise? The retailers come to High Point to buy merchandise and most of them have decided they are not going to be an importer; they're looking to a given source to edit the sea of merchandise for them. For me to get a piece I think is acceptable quality, look and price, it is mind-boggling how much merchandise I have to look at.

Another stimulus was Breece's experience of having licensors approach him about marketing their lines. Breece decided if his Evanston, Ill.-based company would promote any name it would be his own. At a recent sale, Christy's recognized cohesiveness and promoted the Breece Collection because it reflected his taste, developed as a collector with more than 30 years of industry experience. The factors prompted the transition to a new name two weeks before arriving in High Point.

At its 330 North Hamilton showroom, buyers may notice transitional signs reading The Breece Collection by Payne Street. Advertising here is split between the names, but eventually the Payne Street part will fade away, Breece said