imm cologne 2018 Recap
Furniture World News Desk on
2/15/2018
imm cologne ended on Sunday, 21 January 2018, with very positive results. In total, around 125,000 attended the event, achieving a slight increase in visitors compared to 2016 despite Storm Friederike on Thursday and the resulting transportation difficulties.
The event attracted a greater numbers of trade visitors from Europe and Asia, which are the No. 1 export markets for the German and European furniture industries.
"imm cologne is an excellent and highly effective platform for international business," said Gerald Böse, President and Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse. "Each year, the trade fair provides the industry with vital momentum for sales in decisive export markets around the world," he added.
The President of the Association of the German Furniture Industry, Axel Schramm, also gave the event an excellent verdict: "The German furniture industry is delighted that imm cologne went exceptionally well and gave us a great start to 2018. We hope that the momentum that we'll take with us from Cologne will carry us throughout the rest of the year. The trade fair's success will assist furniture manufacturers in expanding our successful exports and in achieving results in the challenging home market," he commented.
The interiors show also attracted growing numbers of international visitors. The proportion of foreign visitors rose to around 50% (2016: 46%) on the trade visitor days. Within Europe, increases in visitor numbers were recorded in particular from Spain (+31%), Belgium (+16%), France (+11%), the Netherlands (+1%) and Eastern Europe (+54%), with an impressive growth in Russian visitors (+69%). Significant increases were seen in visitors from Asia (+50%), with especially strong growth from China (+82%) and Japan (+63%), as well as the Middle East (+15%), Australia/Oceania (+51%), North America (+12%) and Central America (+21%).
Specialist retailers and high-profile international visitors from the furnishings trade and interior design business attended, with many of them coming from the global top 30 chains. They were joined at imm cologne by major online platforms and international department stores, including Alinéa from France, John Lewis from the United Kingdom, Lars Larsen from Denmark, El Corte Inglés from Spain, Nitori from Japan and Ashley from the USA. The major industry players in online retail − including Amazon, the Otto Group and Wayfair − also attended the event. A delegation of 80 design-oriented interiors stores from the USA and Canada, including Luminaire from Miami and DDC from New York, visited imm cologne to view the Pure segment. "There is no better proof that our extensive VIP program is successful and that imm cologne is also an excellent business platform in the years when it does not have a co-located kitchens event," said Katharina C. Hamma, Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse.
In addition to the product showcases, "Das Haus" - a walk-in simulation of a home designed by Lucie Koldova this year - was once again one of the trade fair highlights in every sense of the term as light played a key role in the installation. Lighting, bathrooms and the smart home were the focus topics for this edition of the fair, and particular emphasis was placed on them in the Pure Architects concept hall. By examining these themes, the 360-degree interiors show addressed three crucial future issues that are set to be increasingly important in interior design.
More about Koelnmesse: Koelnmesse is the world’s top trade fair organiser for the areas of furnishing, living and lifestyle. At the trade fair hub of Cologne, the leading international fair imm cologne as well as the trade fair formats of LivingKitchen, ORGATEC, spoga+gafa, interzum and Kind + Jugend rank among the internationally renowned and established industry meeting places. These fairs comprehensively represent the upholstered and case furniture segment, the kitchen industry, the office furniture sector and outdoor living as well as the innovations of the furniture supply industry. Over the last few years, Koelnmesse has specifically added international fairs in the most important fast-expanding markets to its portfolio. These include the LivingKitchen/CIKB in Shanghai, interzum guangzhou in Guangzhou and Pueri Expo in Sao Paulo. With ambista, the network of the interior decorating industry, Koelnmesse offers direct access to relevant products, contacts, competence and events. For more information, visit http://www.global-competence.net/interiors/