Heimtextil 2002 expands
By Carole Sloan -- Home Textiles Today, 11/12/2001
NEW YORK — With the addition of a new Hall 3 and the Forum, Heimtextil 2002 will offer visitors a complete new format for exploring the more than 3000 exhibitors at the event, Jan. 8 through Jan. 12.
Another first is an extra day, Sunday, that will open the doors of the giant home textiles and fabrics exhibition to consumers. Some 462 companies will be open to consumers on Jan. 13 in Hall 3.0, 3.1, 5.1, 6.1, and 8.0. Consumers will not be allowed to buy merchandise at the fair but will be provided with the names of dealers that carry the merchandise.
Overall, Heimtextil will reorganize the exhibitors by product categories in an effort to make shopping the gigantic fair an easier activity, said Geert Bottger, director of textile fairs for Messe Frankfurt, Heimtextil's organizer, at a preview meeting here earlier this month. Heimtextil, as well as executives from Koln Messe, the furniture fair held in Cologne and Domotex in Hannover, discussed plans for next January's sequential events.
The fair's presentation of trends, formerly held in Hall 7, now will be in the more centrally located Forum.
Also new for 2002 is an area called Contract and Creation for visitors looking for fabrics for the non-residential market.
In the United States, Bottger said, Heimtextil will showcase Heimtextil Select: Luxury Textiles here on April 16 and 17, concurrent with the New York Home Textiles Show.
The Heimtextil event will focus on some 50 exhibitors, mostly European, at the Metropolitan Pavilion in the Chelsea area here.
A feature of the show will be an International Trend Pavilion.
