“imm cologne 2008” was held from January 14 to 20 at the Cologne Exhibition Center, Germany. This year’s fair faced drastic changes in many aspects due to the various economic and social issues occurring around it, such as 1) advanced globalization of furniture distribution systems; 2) economic stagnation centering on Japan, Europe, and the U.S. as an aftermath of the subprime mortgage financial crisis in the U.S. in the second half of last year; 3) skyrocketing raw materials costs due to soaring oil prices; and 4) rising demand for environment protection protection.
The number of participating companies was 1,251 from 53 countries, down 4% compared with the previous fair, which ended with 1,301 companies from 57 countries. The number of visitors was about 107,000 from 130 countries, up 1% from the previous fair, which had 105,000 visitors from 128 countries. Thus, this year, the number of exhibitors decreased while the number of visitors slightly increased. When compared with the 2006 fair, however, the number of both exhibitors and visitors decreased by 6% and 8%, respectively. Thus, it seems that imm cologne has finally reached its turning point like so many other leading world furniture fairs, except for those held in China.
This year’s fair was characterized by the following features: 1) For the first time in its long history, exhibition halls had subthemes for the convenience of visitors moving around the entire site; 2) the organizer launched a new project in which a partner country is selected from among participating countries, which was Holland this year, and the country’s products are highlighted during the fair; 3) Hall 2-1 with the subtheme “d3 Design Talent” was set up as a place for promising young designers to make presentations; and 4) Hall 11 with the subtheme “imm pure” presented world quality modern furniture, as well as the products of leading German built-in kitchen manufacturers, such as POGGEN POHL, in a specialty booth entitled “Art of Kitchen.”
Among all subthemes, “imm comfort” (sofas) for Halls 5, 6, and 10, “imm smart” (youth furniture, self-assembly furniture, and bedroom furnishings) for Halls 7 and 8, “imm sleep” for Hall 9, and “imm pure” for Hall 11 proved highly popular among visitors. Also, Hall 4-2 with the subtheme “imm solid,” which gathered solid wood exhibits, attracted the attention of many visitors, reflecting the growing worldwide interest in environment-friendly “green furniture.”
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