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Austrian furniture chain Kika Leiner, which ran into difficulties last year, expects to break even in 2024. This is according to a report in the daily Kurier. According to the report, the 2022/2023 financial year, which ended in September, closed with a balance sheet loss of 114 million euros on sales of 597 million euros. The optimism is based on the implementation of key measures. These include the streamlining of the product range and the strengthening of private labels, whose share is to be increased from 20% to 30%. The biggest cuts have been made to the store network and staff. Last year, 23 out of 40 stores were closed and more than 1600 employees lost their jobs.
As of January, Sebastiaan Deboodt is the new Managing Director of the Belgian carpet manufacturer Associated Weavers (AW). The Master of Business Administration has taken over the responsibilities of AW's former CEO Erik Deporte, who left the company in September 2023. Deboodt was most recently an independent management consultant and also has many years of industry experience in the fibres and yarns sector.
Peach Fuzz was chosen for the 25th anniversary of the Pantone Color of the Year programme. The present but unobtrusive peach colour between pink and orange is intended to give the viewer pause and create a pleasant atmosphere.
The management of carpet manufacturer Mc Three has decided to close the company. Mc Three is a fully integrated manufacturer of machine-woven carpets with its own yarn production. Almost 300 people were employed in Waregem. The company had 20 looms and was able to produce 9,000 tonnes of polypropylene yarn per year. The Belgian business press reports a 31% drop in turnover to EUR 37.8 million for the 2022 financial year.
The 26th edition of Domotex Asia / Chinafloor will return to its usual spring date and location in Shanghai, after the pandemic has shaken up the show calendar in recent years. Over 1,600 exhibitors and brands from across the flooring industry are expected at the National Exhibitions and Convention Centre (NECC) over the three days from 28-30 May 2024. A total of 230,000 square metres of exhibition space is expected to be covered in eight halls.
Carpet Week Hamburg is the in-house trade fair format launched last year on the initiative of numerous Hamburg carpet importers and suppliers. Following events in May and September 2022 and Carpet Week Hamburg 2023 in September this year, the date for 2024 has now been set. During the week of 7-13 October 2024, participants will invite visitors to their warehouses and showrooms.