furniture industry | imm cologne

Business trends 2011: Excellent prospects for the furniture industry

photo: Rolf Benz.

Homing and furnishing have become more diverse, colourful, cosmopolitan and above all, more important on a global scale. That‘s why good furniture design today is successful at every point on the map. Furniture design will always transcend boundaries, and no longer be held captive behind a national border. As the motto “design goes global“ implies, supply and demand are evolving worldwide. The international volume of trade in furniture has therefore doubled over the past nine years. That‘s good news not only for international clientele, but also for the international furniture industry.

Dirk-Uwe Klaas, Association of the German Furniture Industry, on consumers’ changing mentality

The average German only replaces his sofa with a new one every 8-12 years. Don’t you sometimes wish there was a scrapping incentive for furniture too?
We in the furniture industry aren’t calling for subsidies – we just want equal treatment for all sectors. Instead of getting people to scrap their cars, the politicians ought to be scrapping taxes for normal citizens and SMEs so they’ve got more money left in their pockets and budgets at the end of the month – money they can use however they see fit.

The imm cologne’s Trendboard is anticipating a return to more quality consciousness as a response to the economic crisis. Is “real” quality actually still affordable these days?
We’re living in a time when people are refraining from quick consumption again so yes, you could say people have started to change their mentality. They’re becoming more sensitive to how we use the world’s resources and looking for things that promise value and durability again. That’s why there’s an increasing demand for sustainability and value in our industry too. For earlier generations it was normal not to follow every furniture or clothing fashion or go along with every new style that came out. Then there was a period of rapid and changing consumption. The pleasure was often short-lived and the products interchangeable.

Facts and figures on the situation of the German furniture industry: Home styling is in – buying furniture too?

Dirk-Uwe Klaas, CEO of the Association of the German Furniture Industry (VDM)

For Dirk-Uwe Klaas, CEO of the Association of the German Furniture Industry (VDM) in Bad Honnef, it’s obvious why home styling has finally been discovered as the latest hot topic: “People spend approx. 340 days a year in their own home. That’s why an increasing number of people are coming to see home as a place for self-fulfilment. Nowhere else can you indulge your own tastes as freely as in your own four walls.”

Cars instead of sofas – a lean period for German furniture manufacturers
But even if home styling has become a cult – is it actually still possible to make money with furniture in the face of shrinking private budgets and the massively subsidised bargains available on the automotive market right now? At first glance, the German furniture industry’s half-yearly figures indicate a resounding “no”. With sales of 7.6 billion euros, German furniture manufacturers were an alarming 13.8 percent or 1.2 billion euros down on the previous year’s figure.

However, in view of the unique economic situation right now, any serious answer to the profitability question must take account of figures from earlier years as well. Back in 2008, for instance, the results painted a very different picture: furniture producers ended the year with growth of 1.6 percent. Although there was a slight decline in domestic sales, this was more than offset by export growth of 4.3 percent as compared to the previous year.

Modern furniture de luxe – lounge and bedroom furniture at imm prime

The Japanese cultivate a delicate minimalism. The Americans like heavy furniture with a colonial look. The Italians love low horizontal lines and gleaming fronts. And the Germans insist on an abundance of ingenious storage space. Is this actually true? Are these style pigeonholes still applicable? This question is best answered at imm cologne from 19 to 25 January 2009. Renowned lounge and bedroom manufacturers from regions all over the world will exhibit their wares under the sub-brand imm prime and imm prime design in halls 2.2, 3.2, 4.2 and 3.1 of the international furniture trade fair held in Cologne.

Furniture industry sees an opportunity despite financial crisis

Despite the financial crisis and its current effects on the economy, the German furniture industry sees an opportunity to increase the status of homes and furnishings in these difficult times. Whenever people feel extremely insecure, their own home and the sense of security and safety connected with their own four walls assume a higher status. Only the furniture industry can satisfy this feeling now, and thereby bring furniture higher up the ranking list of personal desires. In addition, furniture as a valuable and life-long consumer item represents a long-lasting and reliable investment.

The figures and statistics seen since the summer provide evidence that this hope is not entirely without foundation. In the otherwise extremely different 3rd quarter of the year, in which almost no other industry branch escaped unscathed, growth of 1.5 percent was realised.

imm cologne

Create. Furnish. Live.

Business trends 2011: Excellent prospects for the furniture industry

Dirk-Uwe Klaas, Association of the German Furniture Industry, on consumers’ changing mentality

Facts and figures on the situation of the German furniture industry: Home styling is in – buying furniture too?

Modern furniture de luxe – lounge and bedroom furniture at imm prime

Furniture industry sees an opportunity despite financial crisis

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