Heimtextil 2014, which closed its doors after a four-day run just a few days ago, represented a successful start to the new home and contract textiles season, according to organisers.

“Almost 67,000 visitors from 133 countries (2013: 65,835*) made their way to Frankfurt to see the latest products and innovations being shown by 2,718 international exhibitors (2013: 2,616*). With growth on both the visitor and exhibitor sides, Heimtextil 2014 has been a complete success. In addition to the excellent statistics, the quality and enormous spectrum of products underscore the unique position of Heimtextil as the world’s leading trade fair for home and contract textiles”, said Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt, summing up the results of the event.

With growth in the number of exhibitors for the fourth year running, organisers say that Heimtextil sent a positive signal to the sector even before it began. This and the return of many leading renowned European companies are said to have given a further boost to a sector already taking an optimistic view of the coming season.

For example, one of the ‘high-grade’ returnees, Chivasso from the Netherlands, was delighted with the fair and the orders taken: “We decided to exhibit at Heimtextil again and are very pleased with the results”, reports International Sales & Marketing Manager Robert Petit.

“For us, Heimtextil was unequivocally an order fair. Great interest was shown in our high-quality wallpaper designs by both German and international visitors.”

High standard

As in previous years, the results of the fair were given a positive rating by both exhibitors and visitors. 94% of visitors (2013: 94%) said they had achieved their goals for the fair, which confirms the high standard of Heimtextil exhibitors. In turn, the bulk of exhibitors were very pleased with visitor quality – 79% reported that they had achieved their targets for the fair (2013: 78%).

The high level of internationality at Heimtextil continues to be characteristic of the show - just over 66% of visitors (2013: 66%) and 88% of exhibitors (2013: 88%) came to Frankfurt from outside of Germany with particular growth being noted from Scandinavia, East Europe, South America and South Korea. The large number of international participants and the importance of Heimtextil for the export business were also confirmed by Thomas Albrecht, CEO of Albrecht Creative Concepts:

“We had customers from Japan, Korea, Brazil and very many from America in general – all were here and all placed orders. Given that this was our first time at the fair after a five-year break, I was very surprised by the large number of orders we took.”

Growing market for digital textile printing

One of the outstanding trends at this year’s Heimtextil was the shift towards digital textile printing, the development of which is characterised by an increasing number of exhibitors and greater innovative strength. A number of trend-setting companies, such as Durst, Reggiani (both from Italy), SPGprints (The Netherlands), Pod Iberia (Portugal), Hewlett-Packard (USA) and Kornit Digital (Israel) made presentations at Heimtextil for the first time or increased the size of their exhibition stand:

“We are delighted and were particularly surprised by the great interest shown”, says Oliver Luedtke, Marketing Manager of Kornit Digital Europe. “Today, there is hardly a manufacturer who is not interested in digital printing. Hence, we see ourselves at the beginning of a major development in this segment, a development that will also be reflected at Heimtextil in the future.”

Opportunity to stand out

Particularly evident at the 44th Heimtextil, organisers say, was the increasing significance attached to the presentation of textile products. The positive economic outlook for 2014 and the increasing purchasing power in Germany mean new opportunities for the retail trade. Thus, SATI’s Ben Martens appealed to German retailers saying: “The focus must be on emotions because customers want high-grade, innovative and individual solutions. Interior decorators with their own signature are well equipped to take advantage of this trend.”

For 2015, the Heimtextil management is planning to expand the ‘floor’ product group: “We are very pleased with the growing interest shown by carpet companies in the fair – all the more so given that holistic textile furnishing concepts naturally include carpets. We will give greater emphasis to this subject at Heimtextil 2015 and offer a new concept with a presentation oriented towards the current zeitgeist and a central position at the Exhibition Centre,” said Detlef Braun.

The next Heimtextil in Frankfurt am Main will be held from 14 to 17 January 2015.

www.heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com