IMM cologne furniture trade show officially cancelled and postponed until 2023

IMM COLOGNE 2022 officially CANCELLED

in a recent press release, the organizers of IMM cologne have announced that the furniture trade event will not take place on the planned dates in january 2022 in cologne. the show will be postponed until january 2023, due to the rise of COVID-19 cases all across europe. this is the second year in a row that the fair has been cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

all images courtesy of IMM cologne

IMM cologne’s successful restart is endangered

show organizer koelnmesse made this decision in close deliberation with the association of the german furniture industry (VDM) and in agreement with other well-known industry representatives. specifically, the VDM, as the industry sponsor of the event, and in the context of the current pandemic situation, considers the economic success and the successful restart of IMM cologne in january extremely endangered. ‘following consultation with numerous exhibitors, industry representatives, and trading partners, there is either no question of participation on the part of german exhibitors or exhibitors from the german-speaking region, or this is very much in doubt,’ mentions jan kurth, CEO of the VDM.

‘the current special basic conditions in the interior design industry make the practicability of IMM cologne almost impossible,’ shares oliver frese, COO of koelnmesse. ‘we didn’t make this very bitter decision easy for ourselves, but consider it to be our obligation to take this step now in close consultation with the industry. in this way we provide clarity and planning security in the interests of our exhibitors. in our shared perspective, an IMM cologne with its claim as a leading trade fair for the interior design industry is not realizable in the current situation.’

an industry-specific decision

IMM cologne is the first event of 2022 to be affected as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. however, the cancellation is restricted to IMM cologne and does not include other B2B events planned for spring 2022 in cologne. as IMM cologne’s official press release states, ‘in autumn, the cologne art fairs and the nutrition fair anuga, among others, demonstrated that trade fairs are also once again possible at the international level and can be carried out safely for everyone. it is currently quite clear how differently individual industries are reacting to the present situation.’

‘we have determined a heterogeneous estimation among the exhibiting companies in the face of the enduring pandemic situation in germany’, mentions oliver frese. the assessments vary in degree specific to different industries, ‘sometimes with a greater impact on the respective trade fair and sometimes hardly palpable’, the COO continues. ‘in the interests of cooperation in a spirit of trust, we are of course communicating closely with our industries and customers, in order to be able to reach just these kinds of industry-specific decisions.’

koelnmesse still plans on hosting the ORGATEC tokyo showcase in april, while garden trade fair spoof + gaga is scheduled to take place in cologne in june 2022.