After Domotex in Hanover and Heimtextil in Frankfurt, the trade fairs organized by Koelnmesse have also had to make some, in some cases, drastic, albeit painful choices:  ZOW, the supplier fair for the furniture and interior design industry, has been postponed to May 3-5, 2022; Eisenwarenmesse, the Salone Internazionale Ferramenta, scheduled for March 6-9, 2022 will be held September 25-28, 2022; and finally, the imm cologne 2022 fair will not be held on the scheduled date in January 2022 in Cologne, but has been postponed to 2023. The reason is unfortunately the same for all three fairs, namely the current coronavirus health situation especially in Germany and throughout Europe and the resulting industry concern about the participation of both exhibitors and international visitors.

 

ZOW 2022 postponed to May 3-5, 2022

ZOW, a fair considered a creative laboratory for the furniture industry in Germany and neighboring countries, was scheduled to take place in Bad Salzuflen from February 8 to 10, 2022.  However, the worsening pandemic situation in Germany in recent weeks and related restrictions prompted organizers to postpone the event.

According to Matthias Pollmann, vice president for exhibition management at Koelnmesse, "There was growing uncertainty among companies in the industry about their chances of participating in an fair. What became clear from our many conversations was that most were not ready to participate in ZOW in February 2022, given the current health situation. Therefore, we felt it was fair and responsible to postpone the event until May 2022."

 

Eisenwarenmesse in Cologne at the end of September 2022

Moving the Eisenwarenmesse to the autumn ensures exhibitors and visitors maximum participation potential, with particular reference to Asian production and target markets.

"As the world's leading fair for the hardware industry, we aspire to provide as comprehensive a picture of the global market as possible and to bring together companies and buyers from all over the world. With this in mind, together with the associations and exhibitors we have decided that instead of March 6 to 9, 2022 as originally planned, the Salone Internazione della Ferramenta will be held from September 25 to 28, 2022," Oliver Frese, Vice President of Koelnmesse, announced in Cologne.

"The German tool industry is very export-oriented. We therefore need a large audience at the Salone Internazionale della Ferramenta, and with this move we are confident that we will achieve our goal," said Stefan Horst, Managing Director of the German Tool Industry Association.


 

imm cologne 2022 postponed to 2023

The imm cologne trade fair, scheduled to take place in Cologne from January 17 to 23, 2022, will not be held, but has been postponed to 2021: this was the decision taken by the management of Koelnmesse in close consultation with the German Furniture Industry Association (Verband der Deutschen Möbelindustrie, VDM) and in agreement with leading industry representatives.

In view of the current pandemic situation, the VDM association, as conceptual co-sponsor of the fair, considers the economic success of the event and thus the positive recovery of imm cologne in January to be extremely compromised. "After consulting with numerous exhibitors, industry representatives and business partners, for German exhibitors or exhibitors from the German-speaking region, participation is out of the question or strongly in doubt," explained Jan Kurth, managing director of the VDM. The same feedback also came from many European countries.

"The current special general situation in the interior design industry makes the feasibility of imm cologne practically impossible," reports Oliver Frese. "We certainly did not take this bitter decision lightly, but we consider it our duty to take this step now in close consultation with the industry, thus creating clarity and planning security in the interest of our exhibitors. In our common view, an imm cologne, with its claim to be the leading fair for the interior design industry, is not feasible in the current situation," the CEO continues. "We are currently actively working on options to continue to offer imm cologne exhibitors an attractive international trade fair presence in 2022. In this respect, both spoga+gafa and Orgatec represent excellent alternatives within Koelnmesse's interior design portfolio."

That's why Koelnmesse, together with the VDM association and the exhibition industry, will do everything in its power to put together a powerful and innovative imm cologne 2023 edition.