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Healthy business at FurniFab
The upholstery suppliers' show demonstrates growing popularity

FurniFab - Furniture Fabric Show took place earlier this month with a high level of success. From 8th to 10th March, Hall 6A at the Poznan International Exhibition Centre was devoted to all the latest introductions in materials for the European seating and upholstery industry. After two previous editions in Komorniki, the 2005 event moved and was the first to be located in the centre of Poznan. "This was clearly the right move," said Peter Meyer, head of the organising company SURVEY Marketing + Consulting.

 The number of trade visitors increased to over 1200, compared with 800 the previous year, and they came from Germany, Poland, the Baltic States, the Ukraine and Russia, using the opportunity to develop healthy business in their 'neighbourhood'.

Central to FurniFab is its wide selection of products on show. Exhibiting companies displayed a host of lines ideally tailored to the needs of the growing demand in the Polish and Eastern European upholstery industries. The show included fabrics of all types including prints, microfibres and simulated leathers, plus fillings, cushions and trims. Over 70 exhibitors participated, compared with 60 the previous year, and these came from 11 countries. Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Switzerland were all represented. Exhibitors expressed sound satisfaction with both the quantity and the quality of visitors and it was noted that many visitors spent two or even three days at FurniFab. Real deals were done - endorsing the visitor advertising for the event that emphasised the attendance by key decision makers in the design, buying and product management fields and ensuring that the right people were there on the spot.

FurniFab in Poznan proved to be an opportunity to view the design trends of 2005. Today's main movers in fabrics and covers all convinced through the clear expression of colour and material. For example, when the new collections are intended to provide greater structure and spread of appeal, then the colour range is inevitable 'toned'. Greens and blues have replaced last year's top fashion tones of terracotta, and these are often combined with beige. In contrast, we see a strong presence of cool pastel shades of pink, pale lilacs, blue, and cream. Used in conjunction with white and gold, these form an elegant feminine style.

An alternative trend is to be seen with strong colours used in striped, checked, or single colours. Styling is refined, modern, and purposeful, the colour range in warm and cool tones like burgundy, dark brown, blue-grey, and mauve established a more masculine theme exhibiting interesting contrasts.

In the "Young Living" field we see many floral designs in a new romantic furnishing style. Soft pink and blue tones, combined with silver and white create an element of nostalgia memories, while light-dark contrasts in black and white, orange and brown or red and blue provide a blatant contrast with rebellious undertones!

Design Competition at FurniFab

Through a design competition at FurniFab 2005, SURVEY gave young designers and students from the Poznan and Warsaw art colleges and design institutes the opportunity to relate the latest trends to new fabric designs. "The results of this competition show just how much creative potential is waiting to be released here," said show manager Iwona Cerba.

Judges for the competition were drawn from representatives of the participating institutions and from "Swiat Mebli" trade magazine and assessed entries against numerous artistic, practical, and commercial parameters. First place was awarded to Ewa Malec, a design student from Kattowitz, second to Agniezka Glodniok from Mikolrw and Malgorzata Fialkowska from Wroclaw won the third prize.

The renowned Poznan upholsterer and furniture restorer, Tadeusz Czlapa, owner of the firm "Barok" in Poznan, showed how the latest designs work on real furniture. This was not just on any furniture, but some 18th Century chairs which the National Museum in Poznan had made available for FurniFab. Czlapa has already established himself with restorations in historic buildings in Warsaw and Kórnik, plus the Polish embassies in Paris, Vienna, Budapest, Brussels, and New York.

A wide selection of new ideas and impulses were the hallmarks of FurniFab 2005 in Poznan - successful presentations, good business, and satisfied faces. Overall, the exhibitors, the visitors, and the organisers enjoyed a successful Furnifab 2005at the new location in Poznan. FurniFab in Poznan is, however, not the only suppliers' show for the upholstery industry that SURVEY Marketing + Consulting is organising in 2005. Parallel events alongside, and in conjunction with ZOW in Moscow from 18th to 21st April and ZOW in Madrid from 7th to 10th June will also take place.

SURVEY Marketing + Consulting GmbH & Co. KG (Germany) is a marketing and consulting company specialising in the b2b field, with specialisation in the international furniture and suppliers' sectors. The company has more than 10 years' successful experience as organisers of sector events and international business events in these areas.

For further information, please contact:

Frau Karin Dullweber,
PH MEYER Wirtschaftsberatung,
Mittelstraße 50,
33602 Bielefeld (Germany),
Tel. +49 (0) 5 21 / 9 65 33-16,
Fax +49 (0) 5 21 / 9 65 33-77,
E-Mail: kd@phmeyer.de