Final Report Cologne presents the 2008 worldwide furnishing trends

The international furnishings sector gave a clearly positive assessment of its leading fair which has just closed in Cologne. Around 107,000 visitors, this time from a total of approx. 130 countries, made use of the opportunity to obtain comprehensive information about the worldwide home furniture and furnishings trends. This represented a slight increase in the total number of visitors (2007: 105,984 from 128 countries), whereby the share of trade visitors clearly rose by approximately 6 percent. In his assessment of the fair, Wolfgang Kranz, Executive Vice-President Koelnmesse, particularly underlined the high internationality at imm cologne. "We experienced a very good furniture fair. In relation to the internationality of its product range, Cologne is the top address on a worldwide scale and this was rewarded by a much higher visitor frequency. We significantly increased the number of visitors, especially from Europe, the No. 1 export market for the German and European furniture industry," the Executive Vice-President went on to say. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Association of the German Furniture Industries (VDM - Verband der Deutschen Möbelindustrie), Dirk-Uwe Klaas, also expressed his great satisfaction: "imm cologne has presented the furniture world with a really spectacular display of home furniture concepts and furnishings ideas. For the German furniture industry it was both a powerful as well as spirited start to 2008."

For seven days 1,251 participating companies from 53 countries presented a comprehensive spectrum of top-class design furniture extending through to classic home furniture and furnishings worlds. With a foreign share of 66 percent on the exhibitors' side, the event reflected the global markets.

The visitors came from around 130 countries. Increases were registered from the EU and EFTA countries. Here in particular from the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, France and Switzerland. In addition there was also an increase in the number of visitors from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South America and Africa. The trade visitor presence from Germany was also stronger compared to the previous year, a result which underlines the significance of the event. imm cologne perfectly brings together the supply and demand within the furnishings sector. For the industry and trade it is an ideal and business-orientated contact platform, while for architects and designers it is a unique ideas exchange.

The sub-brand concept, which was implemented for the first time, proved to be a complete success. "The fair is now more clearly structured and provides us visitors with a comprehensive and efficient overview. As a result, imm cologne has become a trade fair of short distances", was the assessment by Thomas Grothkopp, Executive Director, Federal Association of Kitchen, Furniture & Furnishing Retailers (BVDM - Bundesverband des Deutschen Möbel-, Küchen- und Einrichtungsfachhandels e.V.). There was also positive feedback for the supporting sector highlights in the form of "world of dreams" and "Art of kitchen". The emotionally-charged presentation by the premium kitchen manufacturers in Hall 11 met with a great response both within the sector as well as among the visitors. "The courage to implement the new concept for kitchen brands in the imm pure sector has fully paid off. The new presentation within the framework of Art of kitchen has contributed to raising the profile of the kitchen brands", was the conclusion by Elmar Duffner, Executive Director Poggenpohl.

As the first partner country of imm cologne, the Netherlands presented an impressive demonstration of their design competence and expertise coupled with product diversity. In this context the design and structuring of Hall 11 by Ben van Berkel proved to be a particularly attention-grabbing feature.

The fresh design world presented by the young wild ones in the [d3] design talents sector ensured often unexpected moments of inspiration. "It was tremendous to see what was happening here this week. I don't know how many interviews I have given", was one young designer's assessment. In particular the interaction between the young and more established design characterized the charm and appeal of imm cologne.

However, it was also the special presentations at imm cologne which proved to be a major attraction for visitors. Complementing the innovations and new products presented by the exhibitors, the fair's special features "Architecture Code Cologne", "Design Deutschland Case Study 08" and presentation of the "Compasso d'oro", 50 years of Italian furniture design, set impressive highlights.

Trends:

-Goodbye to the good, old wall unit. The classic wall unit is
finally out. It is being replaced by light and flexible wall
systems.
-The coming season's upholstered furniture has a multi-
functional character.
-The colours are dominated by white.
-Technology is becoming increasingly important. That means:
flat-screens and speakers etc. are being integrated in
furniture.
-Bookcases, wardrobes and even bedside reading lamps now
incorporate LED lighting. The Light Emitting Diode is the
lighting technology of the future.
Kitchens in the high-class segment impress through
professional technology. Electrically-powered drawers are
opened and closed by a gentle tap.
-"Green Line". Furniture, which is manufactured using natural
materials, produced in environmental-friendly processes and
can later also be disposed of in an environmentally-friendly
way.

The next imm cologne will be held from
19th - 25th January 2009

Information: www.imm-cologne.de. /www.imm-cologne.comimm cologne in figures:
At imm cologne a total of 1,251 exhibitors from 53 countries, 66 percent of them from abroad, participated in gross exhibition space of 261,700 m². They included 428 companies from Germany as well as 823 suppliers from abroad. imm cologne attracted around 107,000 visitors, 31,000 of them from abroad as well as 21,000 end-consumers.

All figures are calculated according to the guidelines laid down by the Society for Voluntary Control of Fair and Exhibition Statistics (FKM - Gesellschaft zur freiwilligen Kontrolle von Messe- und Ausstellungszahlen) and are subject to audit by a public accountant.
(FKM, Littenstraße 9, D-10179 Berlin / Internet: http://www.fkm.de)