Heimtextil 2012 closed its doors last Saturday after achieving an excellent set of results. With 2,634 exhibitors from 61 countries, the number of manufacturers of home and contract textiles taking part was up 2.4 percent on the year before and the atmosphere at the fair correspondingly good. “The exhibitors were delighted with the number of decision makers, the quality of the contacts, the orders placed and the number of new business contacts at Heimtextil 2012”, said Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt, summarising the opinion of exhibitors as reflected by the end-of-fair poll. German exhibitors were particularly pleased with their results – no less than 84 percent said their participation had been successful to very successful, a significant increase on the previous year (77 percent). Even higher was the level of satisfaction on the visitor side where 92 percent said they were satisfied to very satisfied with the range of products on show and the course of business at the fair.

Against this background of orders, product launches and new contacts, the sector nevertheless noted that many delegations from the distributive trades, the handicrafts trade, design and industry were no longer as big as in the past. This reduced the number of visitors by a good five percent to around 70,000 (2011: 73,071, audited by the Society for the Voluntary Control of Fair and Exhibition Statistics (FKM)). “The decline is primarily due to a fall in numbers from those European nations that have been particularly hard hit by the debt crisis, especially Italy, Spain, Greece, France and The Netherlands”, explained Detlef Braun.

In contrast to this, there was an increase in the number of visitors from the Russian Federation, the Middle East, Turkey and the Far East. The biggest visitor countries after Germany were Italy, Turkey, China, Great Britain, the USA, France, Spain, the Russian Federation, The Netherlands and Poland. Altogether, the proportion of visitors from outside Germany amounted to 64.2 percent (2011: 65.4 percent).

Despite the prevailing economic uncertainties, positive signals came from Germany. Both visitors and exhibitors are beginning the new business year with a positive outlook. The good prognoses are based on a sales increase of 4.6 percent at the end of 2011, the result of growth in domestic demand. And, say the experts, demand will remain at a high level this year. Home and household textiles, e.g., bed, bathroom and table linen, textile floor coverings, curtains, decorative fabrics and wallpaper, are particularly popular among German consumers with demand having risen steadily since the 2009 financial crisis to a level that is higher than that for entertainment electronics. Thus, in 2010, German households purchased home textiles worth an average of € 224. Now, for 2012, the IFH Retail Consultants market-research company in Cologne is forecasting an average household expenditure of € 242 for such products – i.e., € 20 or eight percent more. By comparison, household expenditures on entertainment electronics were only € 212 in 2010 with no further growth expected in 2012.

On behalf of the German industry, Martin Auerbach, Director of the Association of the German Home Textile Industry (Verband der Deutschen Heimtextilien-Industrie), Wuppertal, summed up the situation as follows: “For our members and the entire sector, Heimtextil 2012 has been a highly satisfactory event. As the opening trade fair of the year, it generated even more new contacts, innovations and orders than the year before and this will motivate us greatly over the coming year. Additionally, Heimtextil has continued to improve in qualitative terms. Specific areas, such as the contract sector, the coupon business and sustainability, have been tailored perfectly to the needs of buyers from the distributive trades, the handicrafts trade and the contract business. Thus, Messe Frankfurt has further increased its expertise in the field of trade fairs for the textile sector.”


Particularly pleasing in this connection is the correlation of the good results of the fair reported by German exhibitors and visitors with the positive assessments of the economic outlook. In both cases, significantly more German exhibitors and visitors expressed themselves in positive terms. Thus, there was a leap in the number of good to very good ratings for visitor target groups reached (up 12 percent points to 79 percentt) and visitor quality (from 69 percent to 86 percent). The estimation of the economic outlook made by exhibitors from outside Germany is not so optimistic – 27 percent of foreign exhibitors are pessimistic against only eight percent of their German colleagues.

In view of this, a successful fair is all the more encouraging. Thus, a remarkable 81 percent of non-German exhibitors said they are satisfied to very satisfied in terms of achieving their goals for the fair.Beddinghouse – Jan Harmsen, Sales Manager Europe, from The Netherlands (Hall 11.0): “That was the best fair ever. Yes, we held very good discussions. Visitor quality was very high – not only with regard to European visitors but also to those from other parts of the world. Heimtextil is the only fair that has a genuine worldwide impact. I never thought we would take so many orders, especially from whole¬salers.”

The large number of established and new exhibitors also benefited British exhibitors. Thus, Matthew Crew, Brand Designer and Marketing Manager of Pavilion Textiles Ltd. (Hall 4.1), said, “Our company was founded 22 years ago and we are now Great Britain’s leading sheer curtain and fabric supplier. We used Heimtextil for the worldwide launch of our new Vanilla brand and are very, very pleased with the results. Now, we can really begin selling on a worldwide basis. At Heimtextil, we reached new markets in 45 countries alone during the first two days!”

Wallpaper was the subject of particular attention at Heimtextil 2012. Many renowned companies presented their new collections in Hall 3.1, the Wall Gallery special show displayed the most innovative products in the right light and a marketing campaign launched at the Heimtextil is set to make the new furnishing worlds the talk of many towns. Thus, Karsten Brandt, Director of the German Wallpaper Institute in Düsseldorf, was delighted with the new trend towards wallpaper: “Our member companies represented here are very pleased with the course of business at the fair – especially with the quality of the contacts made. The echo, particularly from German buyers, was excellent – a good atmosphere with no trace of caution or recession and nothing to indicate a decline in demand in 2012. This is more noticeable among foreign buyers. Nevertheless, the number of visitors and orders from purchasing associations and wholesalers from Russia and China was very good. Here in Frankfurt, we launched our 2012 Road Show on its tour of seven German cities. This was a very successful start to ‘Wallpaper on Tour’!”

More than 400 manufacturers drew attention to the latest innovations for textile furnishings in the contract sector and architecture, as well as sustainable home textiles, via special offers and a series of expect lectures and awards ceremonies in the special ‘Let’s talk about…’ area (Halle 5.1/6.1). And met with an extremely positive echo from architects and interior architects from the whole of Germany and neighbouring countries. On behalf of Architects Titus Bernhard, CEO Titus Alexander Bernhard said, “Heimtextil is the best fair for seeing the latest developments and trends for interior textiles – fabrics, curtains, sun-protection systems, carpets, etc. – everything that gives a home personality. That’s why we attend Heimtextil! Architects and interior architects visit the fair because it is an outstanding platform for the contract business.”

Aimed at interior decorators and furnishing experts, the Heimtextil Coupon Business Finder lists companies that supply fabrics in very small to small quantities – a vital service for this important group of visitors from the handicrafts sector. Frank Meiners, proprietor of Raumaustattung Meiners in Fürth: “This is the third time we have participated in the Heimtextil Insider programme for interior decorators – because it caters exactly for our needs. For me, it has always been important to keep track of the latest trends. We are spending two days at this year’s Heimtextil and have gathered an incredible amount of information about innovations, atmospheres, energy and ideas. Next year, we want to integrate home textiles from foreign manufacturers into our range. Then, we will spend three days here. For us, Heimtextil is the most important trade fair thanks to the individual facilities and services for interior decorators.”


With over 25 interior decorators, museums and bed dealers, the‘Heimtextill goes City’ consumer campaign, which was held throughout Frankfurt for the 8th year running, attracted well over 2,000 customers and consumers interested in the fair and in home textiles. ‘Heimtextil goes City’ is Germany’s only consumer campaign for home textiles to be conducted in association with a leading international trade fair and an unrivalled platform for the interior decoration business”, saysMichael Schwarz, Press Officer of the Guild of Interior decorators, Frankfurt am Main.

The next Heimtextil, International Trade Fair for Home and Contract Textiles, will be held in Frankfurt am Main from 9 to 12 January 2013.