Imm 2012 and “Living Interiors”

Applications are pouring in, and in the halls it is getting hard to find a free area. There’s strong interest from Italy, with exhibition space demand 60 percent higher than 2011, plus at least twenty companies in the waiting list. Everyone is running after the opportunities offered by one of the world’s top furniture shows, which will host many Italian big brands, including B&B Italia, Cierre, Desalto, Driade, Living Divani and Kartell, introducing their proposals and news in the “Pure” segment dedicated to design. 

In the wake of the “innovation desire” that has distinguished the exhibition company on the Rhine, a new project is coming up, called “Living Interiors”, in hall 4. It will be a container associated to “Living kitchen”, inaugurated in 2010, to achieve an adequate balance between odd and even years. It will showcase a range of goods and products, including bathroom, flooring, tiling and lighting, in order to “complement” the display of furniture and create a more comprehensive and articulated offer. Of course, we will have to see the response of companies to this proposal, if and how this will generate a chain effect and create a link represented by interior design as a far-reaching, inclusive concept.

As specified during the press conference, it is worth mentioning that Imm will be open to general public for three days, thus offering a much wider audience compared to specialized events for these “complementary products”.

So, strong wind in the sails of Imm Cologne (www.imm-cologne.de), to be held from 16 to 22 January, back to Monday-to-Sunday timing. 

Let’s add the statement by Frank Haubold, general manager of Imm Colonia: “Based on the success recorded at Imm 2011 – he said – and the trend being recorded for the next show, we can say this is an excellent season for our exhibition.The economic situation, though confused and complicated, seems to offer some opportunities to furniture, with global consumption in 2010 back to growth after the disappointing and worrying results of 2008 and 2009, up to 280 billion Euros”.

“The 27 countries of the European Union – added Haubold – represent the biggest market in the world; last year, its 500 million citizens generated a gross domestic product equal to 12.3 billion Euros, up by 1.8 percent from the previous year.Within Europe, Germany is the major furniture market:in 2010, the industry generated 18.5 billion Euro revenues, recording plus 2.2 percent”.

The entire available surface will be occupied, approximately 250 thousand square meters, with some 1,100 exhibitors from 50 countries.