Balta Annual Report 2021 with ups and downs

How is Balta doing? The conference call on the financial year 2021 was awaited with particular excitement - not least because of the sale of various business units to the British Victoria Group.

Balta CEO Cyrille Ragoucy, Transformation Officer Ruben Tattheeuws and CFO Jan-Christian Werner looked back on an eventful 2021: consolidated turnover increased by 12.9% to EUR 634.3 million. Area rugs (Balta Home) increased by an impressive EUR 50.7 million, the residential segment by EUR 14.2 million and the contract segment by EUR 7.6 million. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA rose by 28 % to EUR 87 million: Balta had budgeted for price increases early on, even before the increased cost of materials took hold. At 1.5 %, fixed costs were only slightly above those of the previous year.

Porta furniture retail group parts ways with managing director Jürgen Gerdes

The Porta group of companies has surprisingly parted company with managing director Jürgen Gerdes. This was announced by the company. According to the managing partners, "different views on business policy" led to the decision. Gerdes joined the Porta Group in 20189 and had previously held a board position at Deutsche Post for eleven years. Porta did not comment on a possible successor to the outgoing managing director.

Invista steigt aus dem Teppichfasergeschäft aus

Der Faserhersteller Invista wird noch in diesem Jahr die Produktion von Polyamid 6.6 (Nylon) für Teppichgarne einstellen. Nach Berichten amerikanischer Medien soll dieser Schritt bis Juli 2022 vollzogen werden. Damit reagiere man auf den schwindenden Markt für Teppichgarne aus Polyamid 6.6. Die Produktion des Kunststoffs wird im eigenen Werk in Camden/South Carolina fortgesetzt, jedoch für andere Industriezweige.

Ikea expands in Switzerland

Ikea announces the opening of two more locations in Switzerland. Firstly, the Swedish furniture store will soon submit the building application for its tenth store in the Valais municipality of Riddes, which is scheduled to open in autumn 2023. On a total area of 23,000 square metres, the most modern and greenest furniture store in Switzerland is to be built there.

On the other hand, Ikea is realising a planning studio in Chur, which will open as early as autumn 2022. After the announcement of a "plan and order point" in Bern, the expansion of the two locations is the next step in the expansion strategy of Ikea Switzerland. The company wants to make peripheral Alpine regions more accessible and meet changing customer needs with a higher online and service share.

The Rug Show: New dates for its 2022 event

Less than two weeks after The Rug Show reported the pandemic-related postponement of its planned February event, organizers have announced new dates of 14 – 16 September 14-16 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus (New Jersey / USA).

“Autumn markets in the metro New Jersey/New York area are steeped in rug tradition,” said one of the show’s key organizers, Jack Simantob of Art Resources. “The Rug Show Board worked closely with exhibitors, industry partners and with feedback from our attendees to choose the new dates,” added Simantob.

Raum & Boden 2022: Register now for our digital trade fair

SN-Verlag (Carpet Home) is organising another digital trade fair this spring: the Raum & Boden from 31 March to 1 April 2022. After the successful premiere last November, the continuation of the online format not only comes with a new name, but also with numerous other improvements - as organiser Tim Steinert reports.

The digital trade fair format will go into the next round on 31 March and 1 April 2022: for two days, renowned manufacturers from the flooring industry will present exciting new products virtually at the Raum & Boden trade fair. Trade visitors from the retail and wholesale trades will be able to obtain information quickly, easily and, above all, free of charge. They can address their questions directly to the exhibitors via text and video chat.

The digital trade fair took place for the first time in November 2021 - at that time still under the name "Home & Flooring Expo". With the new name, organiser Tim Steinert from the management of SN Verlag wants to make it clear that the online event is primarily aimed at the German-speaking market and its players - i.e. it was designed for the D/A/CH region.

Amini Carpets: RD Gris by Rodolfo Dordoni

Rodolfo Dodoni designs the new RD Gris collection: a reference to the spanish artist Juan Gris that arises not only from the cubist decomposition of the figures, but also from the particular color palette that characterizes all his work.Rodolfo Dordoni has developed various collections for Amini Carpets, with the aim of giving his products recognition within the company’s catalog: geometries, colors and the choice of different textures are the recurring elements in his designs.

Ambiente: Messe Frankfurt to merge consumer goods fairs in 2023

German trade fair organiser Messe Frankfurt intends to create a new platform for the global consumer-goods industry. In a first step, the three trade fairs Ambiente, Christmasworld and Creativeworld will be held simultaneously for the first time from 3/4 to 7 February 2023 at the Frankfurt fairgrounds.

Purchasing association VME closes 2021 with a good result

The purchasing association Einrichtungspartnerring VME was able to realise a centrally regulated turnover of EUR 1.588 billion in 2021, despite the changeable conditions. According to VME, this corresponds to an increase of 16.5% compared to the previous year.

XXXLutz: 28,000 m2 store opens in Heidelberg

"The furniture store of superlatives" is what XXXLutz calls its new 28,000 m2 location in Heidelberg (Germany), which opens on 10 February. The furniture chain has invested more than 40 million euros in the new building; 250 employees work there, including store manager Frank Detert.