RETAILOBSERVER.COM APRIL 2019
36
imm Cologne/LivingKitchen
T
he events achieved a significant rise in trade visitor
numbers from China (up 23%), North America (up 15%)
and South America, where an increase of 29% was
recorded. Within Europe, considerably more industry professionals
from Greece (up 31%), Ireland (up 30%) and Portugal (up 31%)
travelled to imm cologne and LivingKitchen. The numbers
attending from Spain also rose slightly by 4%.
The organizers are especially pleased with the 13% increase
in visitors from Eastern Europe. Even though traditionally the
number of trade visitors from the major European export markets
has already been very high, this year's edition of the trade fair
duo achieved small increases in audiences from individual
countries. Visitor numbers from Belgium rose 5% , while visitors
from the Netherlands increased by 3% and visitors from France
by 2% .
But imm Cologne and LivingKitchen didn't just excel quantitatively.
Registration data for the co-located events shows they attracted
a high-quality audience of retailers and wholesalers. Specialist
retailers and high-profile international visitors from the
furnishings trade and interior design business were recorded as
visitors, with many of them coming from the global top 30
chains. Growth here was especially strong from the UK, with
visitors from DFS, Heal's, John Lewis, Hatfields and Kingfisher.
The events also drew a strong audience from Scandinavia in the
form of IDdesign, JYSK, Svenska Hem, the Indoor Group from
Finland, Bromölla Möbelaffär and Sängjätten, whose entire
purchasing teams attended several days of the trade fairs. They
were joined at imm cologne by decision-makers from the major
international department stores, including Alinéa from France,
El Corte Inglés from Spain, Nitori from Japan and Boston
Interiors from the USA.
The major industry players in online retail − including Amazon,
the Otto Group, and Wayfair − also used the event intensively for
their business. The Pure segment attracted significantly larger
numbers of design-led retailers in the homewares and interiors
segment from the U.S., Canada, Asia, Russia and Korea to imm
cologne, demonstrating the strong appeal of the trade fair's
offerings for international specialist retailers and wholesalers.
LivingKitchen also proved that it can deliver on all fronts, despite
challenging conditions. For seven days, 271 exhibitors from 28
countries showcased the industry's and the event's innovative
drive, high design standards and quality. And with the proportion of
visitors from abroad at 53%, the event once more proved to be
notably international.