Kick-starting the furniture year with imm cologne: compact, international, B2B only

When the international interiors industry meets in Cologne in January, it is less about staging and image-building. Instead, imm cologne 2026 presents itself as a clearly focused business trade fair that has redefined its role as the starting signal for the furniture year: for four days, Cologne is all about market-ready products, efficient sourcing and reliable partnerships. Unlike its design-led counterpart, idd cologne, imm does not put spectacular concept pieces at centre stage, but rather programmes that carry day-to-day business in retail and e-commerce – from price-driven grab-and-go items to more clearly profiled volume bestsellers.

At the same time, the trade fair reflects the reality of a market that is strongly import-driven and under significant margin and cost pressure. A growing share of furniture comes from Eastern Europe and Asia, international manufacturing networks are becoming more important, and supply chains must be both resilient and flexible. In this environment, a compact, clearly structured trade fair like imm cologne takes on a new function: it becomes an analogue marketplace where ranges, price levels and supplier performance can be compared in a short space of time – and thus a practical tool for annual planning.

With the guiding theme “World of Interiors”, imm cologne makes it clear that this is about the big picture: the full breadth of living – and furniture production around the globe. It showcases precisely those segments that are truly relevant for retail – from entry-level price points and take-away/self-service furniture to lifestyle-oriented programmes in the middle of the market. It is about solutions for real floorplans, budgets and target groups, not iconic stand-alone showpieces. The aim: furniture professionals should be able to see in the halls how living worlds are changing in everyday consumer life – and which ranges can carry that development.

For buyers, that means imm cologne works like a real-time market mirror. Which sofa programmes combine comfort with calculable price points? Which dining series can be staged across channels? Which bed and mattress concepts speak to young, urban target groups? A European supplier such as Zijlstra from the Netherlands is emblematic of this perspective: with a broad portfolio of occasional furniture, tables, seating and lighting geared towards fast availability and digital processes, the company delivers exactly the building blocks retailers can use to update themed areas and online worlds flexibly – from “New Basics” through to young living.

imm cologne 2026 makes the international shift in procurement markets particularly tangible. Exhibitors from more than two dozen countries – with a clear emphasis on Asia – are represented in Cologne. The international sourcing focus is not a side note, but part of the trade fair’s staging: Halls 4.2 and 5.2 deliberately bundle Asian suppliers and OEM specialists, covering everything from dining chairs and modular living programmes to upholstered furniture across a wide range of price levels.

Among the key players is Man Wah Furniture Manufacturing, one of the world’s largest producers of functional sofas and recliners. With its recliner and motion programmes, the company serves numerous markets and distribution channels, exemplifying upholstered ranges that combine industrial strength with surprisingly fine segmentation. Kuka Home, represented via KUKA (HK) Trade, brings a similarly broad spectrum: sofas, armchairs, beds and dining compositions spanning from value-oriented entry-level to higher-positioned lines – conceivable both as branded products and within private-label concepts. A different view of international sourcing is offered by UE Furniture. The company is regarded as China’s first listed chair manufacturer and specialises in ergonomic seating solutions – from office and conference chairs to gaming and home-office models. For retailers looking to anchor or develop the “working from home” theme in their assortment, such suppliers offer the opportunity to integrate functional chairs with clearly developed ergonomics and internationally competitive pricing. At imm cologne, they sit in direct proximity to European programmes – an ideal setting to compare design codes, perceived quality and commercial terms side by side.

To ensure diversity does not turn into arbitrariness, the hall structure of imm cologne 2026 is consistently aligned with buying practice. International sourcing and OEM suppliers are concentrated in Halls 4.2 and 5.2; European living and upholstered furniture manufacturers form their focal point in Hall 10.2; while Hall 10.1 focuses on sleep with mattresses, bed systems and additional upholstered furniture. The result is a kind of assortment map that visitors can use like a navigation system. Looking at the product groups shows just how broad this map is: tables and chairs, upholstered furniture, bedroom furniture and accessories, as well as dining programmes are particularly strongly represented. In the sleep segment, visitors will find suppliers such as HealthCare Europe, which combines production of foams and mattresses in Serbia with European market proximity and industrial expertise. Added to this are brands such as Sweetnight, which address especially digitally savvy target groups with hybrid mattresses and affordably priced “sleep solutions”. For retail and e-commerce teams, this creates the opportunity to rethink classic bed assortments, online lines and own-label concepts all in one place.

How imm cologne 2026 can be used in everyday buying is particularly clear when you view the trade fair as a sequence of targeted routes. Anyone wanting to sharpen their upholstered space in the mid-price segment can start in the sourcing halls 4.2 and 5.2 with suppliers such as Man Wah or Kuka Home, review complete motion, family and recliner programmes there, and then move on to Hall 10.2 for European collections whose sizing and design language are more closely aligned with regional living habits. A detour to occasional furniture specialists such as Zijlstra can also be planned to combine sofa programmes with tables, shelving and lighting into coherent themed worlds – on the shopfloor and online. If you want to rethink the interplay of seating and working, a second route links Asian ergonomics specialists such as UE Furniture with European dining programmes in Hall 10.2, helping you identify product families that work across channels along the Dining–Home Office–Office axis. And in the sleep segment, the route leads to Hall 10.1 to international manufacturers such as HealthCare Europe and Sweetnight, whose mattress and bed expertise can be used to refine Good–Better–Best structures and to connect sleep worlds more closely with frames, textiles and accessories.

In the end, it is not only metrics such as exhibitor numbers, country participation or hall space that define the character of imm cologne 2026. What matters is that the trade fair starts where the pressure to act is most tangible in the industry: with assortment-strong, consumer-relevant products; with price-sensitive target groups; and with globalised supply chains that must function reliably despite all complexity. With its clear B2B profile, international positioning and a hall structure that maps buying logic instead of chance, imm cologne becomes a toolkit for assortment planning and sourcing strategies. Anyone who understands “World of Interiors” in Cologne as a working trade fair can turn four days in January into the foundation for an entire furniture year – between the hall axes of sourcing and sleep, dining and upholstery, you can already see what the next living worlds might look like and which products will carry them.

Save the date: 20-23 January 2026 - imm cologne, Cologne
More information & exhibitor list: www.imm-cologne.com
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