IMM Cologne cancelled after all

The IMM Cologne furniture fair, scheduled for 20 to 23 January 2021, has been cancelled. Its organiser Koelnmesse had originally planned a hybrid format consisting of an on-site event and a digital trade fair, but has been forced to cancel due to the current developments of the Corona pandemic in Europe and Germany. "We had to face reality, even if it hurts," says Gerald Böse, CEO of Koelnmesse. The current very dynamic development has recently caused too much uncertainty among exhibitors and visitors. "However, we are optimistic about the future and are doubly looking forward to 2022, when the industry will be able to make a dynamic start to the year again here in Cologne with the furniture fair," says Böse.

The next IMM Cologne will take place from 19 January to 23 January 2022.

Ikea: Slight increase in sales thanks to online trade

The Swedish furniture giant Ikea concluded its 2020 financial year (September 1, 2019 to August 31, 2020) in Germany with year-on-year growth of 0.9%. Retail sales amounted to EUR 5.33 billion. Online sales jumped by 74.3 % during the Corona period and amounted to EUR 861 million. The online share of total sales was 16.2 % (previous year: 9.4 %).

Westwing: very successful third quarter 2020

The third quarter of 2020 was extremely successful for the internet shopping club Westwing: A press release issued by the company mentions 66% sales growth (to EUR 99 million); the EBITDA margin improved by 18 percentage points to 10.9% (-7.1% in the same period of the previous year). The supplier attributes this to the increasing popularity of Internet shopping, also for interior design and decorative items. "The renewed strong growth is driven both by existing customers with higher activity and repeat purchases and by a very strong acquisition of new customers," the press release states.

Online vs. bricks and mortar retail - Where is the journey heading?

Carpet! Magazine 4/2020 is now available online. This issue focuses mainly on the bricks and mortar carpet trade, the situation at Domotex and the Belgian carpet industry.

Read Carpet! Magazine online

Exhibition: Sheila Hicks – Thread, Trees, River

Dynamic, sensually enticing, infinitely colorful, delicately intimate, and often monumental and space-defining: the fabrics, sculptures, and installations of artist Sheila Hicks challenge traditional notions of art and explore new territories. Hicks is a virtuoso in textile vocabularies and their historical traditions, interweaving the fine arts with design, the applied arts, and architecture to create objects and environments in which materiality, tactility, form, and color – ranging from the subtle to the vibrantly luminous – become a fascinating language of their own.

Balta: Slight recovery in the third quarter

Balta reports a recovery for the third at least in the business units Balta Home (rugs and carpets, +11%) and Residential (residential, +0.2%) and sales above those of the same period last year. The situation remains unsatisfactory for textile coverings for contract business, where the Belgians continue to report a minus of 23.7%. In total, sales of EUR 144.4 million (-7.2%) were achieved between July and September.

XXXLutz opens its most modern store in Eugendorf (A)

The XXXLutz furniture store in Eugendorf has been open since 5 November 2020. It is the second largest XXXLutz furniture store in Austria and is intended to be a "best of" that combines all the Group's knowledge and experience from 13 European countries. Lutz invested around EUR 38 million in Eugendorf. The existing Möbelix furniture store at the location was also completely renovated. With its reopening at the end of the year, the XXXLutz Group will then have all its three divisions at the location.

Volker Heinrich: Hans-Hermann Schenk retired

The Hamburg oriental carpet importer Volker Heinrich announces a change in the management. After more than 40 years with the company, Hans-Hermann Schenk went into well-earned retirement on 31.10.2020. His tasks are taken over by Thorsten Heinrich, the 2nd managing director who is leading the company together with Volker Heinrich.

Steinhoff: Markus Jooste sentenced to millions

Former Steinhoff board member Markus Jooste has been sentenced to a fine of ZAR 162 million (approx. EUR 8.6 million) by a South African regulatory authority. At the end of 2017, Steinhoff's holding company, which at the time also included the furniture chains Kika/Leiner, Poco and Conforama, had fallen into a deep crisis following the reporting of irregularities in its balance sheet.

Anniversary: 75 years XXXLutz

The Lutz Group celebrates its 75th birthday. On 31 October 1945 Gertrude Seifert founded a cabinet maker's workshop in Haag am Hausruck in Upper Austria. The small craft business gradually developed into a furniture dealer, which began to expand strongly when her sons Richard and Andreas Seifert joined the company in the 1970s. Today, the Lutz Group, with its various distribution channels (including XXXLutz, Möbelix and Mömax), operates more than 320 furniture stores in 13 European countries and has an annual turnover of EUR 5.1 billion.