XXXLutz: Cartel Office permits participation in Roller and Tejo's

Germany's Federal Cartel Office has cleared the Austrian XXXLutz Group's 50% shareholding in each of the companies Tejo Möbel Management Holding and Roller, which both belong to the German Tessner Group. However, the Cartel Office's okay is subject to certain conditions, and the competitive effects on the procurement markets will still have to be clarified by an ongoing procedure with the European Commission.

So far, XXXLutz is Germany's second largest furniture retailer – after Ikea – with more than 200 furniture stores and several subsidiaries (XXXLutz, Dodenhof, Zurbrüggen, Möbelzentrum Pforzheim, Poco, Mömax, Osca, Sparkauf). Tessner is in fourth place with 178 locations (Roller, Tejo's SB Lagerkauf, Schulenburg, Meda Küchenstudios) The merger would create a new number one on the German market.

The current proceedings concern 155 Tessner stores, of which 22 will have to be given up due to competition concerns raised by the Federal Cartel Office; one XXXLutz store will also have to be divested.

Home 24: Changes in the board of directors

There are some changes in the board of directors that manage the e-commerce furniture company Home 24. Philipp Steinhäuser, previously Senior Vice President Finance, is to join the board as Chief Financial Officer at the turn of the year. Board member and Chief Technology Officer Johannes Schaback will retire from the company at his own request on 1 April 2021. Home 24 will also establish an Executive Team, in which Florian Leinfelder will take over the function of Chief Technology Officer.

Salone del Mobile definitely in September

The decision has been finalised: the 60th Salone del Mobile will take place from 5 to 10 September 2021. This means that the Milan furniture fair has been moved from spring to late summer.

For the first time, the Salone will cover all product categories, together with the fairs running parallel to it: furnishing products for the home, kitchen (Eurocucina), light (Euroluce) and bathroom (Salone Internazionale del Bagno).

Barfuss with new homepage

Bright, friendly, clearly structured: Manfred Barfuss, Austrian specialist for natural carpets, has revised his homepage. The focus is on the collections "Natur Pur" (handmade, from natural wool) and "Pro Natura" (handmade with yarn from recycled PET bottles). All catalogues are available for download.

Möbel Hübner joins VME

With the turn of the year, Möbel Hübner will also change its purchasing association membership: the Berlin-based furniture store with a long tradition will move from Union Einkaufs-GmbH to Einrichtungspartnerring VME on January 1, 2021. According to the VME press release, twelve former Union shareholders have now joined the Bielefeld furniture association, which currently has around 200 members. Möbel Hübner is one of the few owner-operated furniture stores in Berlin; Albert Türklitz is its 4th-generation CEO.

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.

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.