HEMEROTECA
25 enero, 2017
The fairs imm cologne and LivingKitchen closed its doors on last Sunday, in Cologne, getting a record of visitors.
Cologne was, last week, the furniture and kitchen capital of the world. The international furniture show imm cologne, together with the fair specialized in furniture and kitchen equipment, LivingKitchen, which coincides every two years, have closed this year a record edition.
Visitors
From the total 150,000 visitors received, a figure not reached before, 104,000 were professionals. Of these, some 48,000 came from outside Germany, an increase of 4%. At European level, the number of visitor have increased, mainly from Spain (+ 25%), Russia (+ 26%), Italy (+ 19%) and Great Britain (+ 13%). Visitors from the Netherlands and Poland have also improved.
There were also more professional visitors from outside Europe, especially China (+ 5%), South Korea (+ 12%) and India (+ 5%). The number of visitors from the Middle East (+ 19%), especially from the United Arab Emirates, has also increased.
Koelnmesse CEO, Katharina C. Hamma, has highlighted the quality of professional visitors. Specifically, the fair has been visited by many of the 30 most important commercial chains in the world, such as John Lewis or Home Retail Group of Great Britain; Conforama, from France, Nitori from Japan; and online industry operators such as Amazon or the Otto Group.
In 2015, the previous edition in which both shows coincided, 146,000 visitors were received.
LivingKitchen
This year, LivingKitchen holded 200 exhibitors from 21 countries – including around 50 for the first time. According to their organizations, the show has been able not only to keep the success of the last edition to perfection, but also to significantly improve the indicators in many areas. The LivingKitchen 2017 has been a complete success for us. The most dynamic sector of the world dedicated to the kitchen needs an international reference fair in Germany. Our industry has made a great presentation and we are all convinced that the fair will provide great impetus for national and international demand for kitchens, said Kirk Mangels, manager of the association Die Moderne Küche (AMK).
Trends
About the most important trends shown at the fair, we can not say that something was surprising to us, with the traditional presence of visitors in the stands of the local manufacturers of kitchen furniture and appliances (among them Nobilia, Leicht, Schuler, Warendorf, Miele, Siemens Liebherr, Bosch or Neff, for example) or the presence of Italian brands (like Scavolini, Pedini, Ernestomeda, Lapitec, Sapienstone or Elica, for quoting some of them).
At the design level, classic and noble materials, such as stones and wood, dominate the kitchen furniture, and some licenses are appreciated in terms of surface textures and block composition of the whole.
In the next issue of the magazine COCINA INTEGRAL we will include a special report with the main trends and novelties shown at the fair.
Spanish companies in LivingKitchen
In addition to the increase of Spanish visitors for both fairs, as has informed the organization, several Spanish companies from the kitchen sector participated in both salons, many of them members of AMC.
This is the case, for example of Cosentino, present with an interesting novelty such as its nanotechnology NBoost for Silestone, which implies a clear evolution of quartz surfaces. Thanks to NBoost, Silestone adds to its previous properties a new hydrophobic property that repels liquids, increasing resistance to stains and facilitating cleaning, as well as enhancing tone and shine.
From Frecan, stand out their hood systems for worktops that can equip wall kitchen furnitures thanks to their flat motors. They can be combined with 60 cm worktops and 40 cm deep drawers.
The Size presented six new colors of Neolith (white and black marbles, and stones) and the thickness of 20 mm that adds to the previous ones of 3, 6 and 12 mm.
Concerning to Inalco, brought to the fair iTOPKer its new porcelain surface for countertops and fronts that showed all its potential for kitchens in an Ernestomeda model.
From Teka, its main novelty in LivingKitchen has been its series of appliances named Wish which, with more than 200 products, is the biggest renewal of the entire history of the company, and which stands out for its low consumption, its easy to use and for its new design.
Other Spanish companies with presence in the kitchen sector, such as Discalsa or Moblibérica, tables and chairs producers, participated in imm Cologne. Discalsa showed a new concept for its new products: they are leading products, elements of high decoration and are protagonists by themselves. The new collection is characterized by the porcelain surface in finishes stone, combining design and technical performance.
From Moblibérica, among the products presented was its Julia extendable table, in slate finished porcelain.
The next imm cologne will be held from 15 to 21 January 2018 in Cologne in conjunction with LivingInteriors. LivingKitchen will return in 2019.
* For further information: www.livingkitchen-cologne.com / www.imm-cologne.com
