News

ZOW 2009: Positive signals for the sector
15 200 visitors came to Bad Salzuflen

ZOW, Trade Fair East-Westphalia , which ran from 9 to 12 February 2009, gave out lots of positive signals for the sector with its useful business contacts and plenty of interesting topics for the future. Featuring 619 supplier companies, the number of exhibitors was lower this year than in 2008, but this did not impair the quality of the trade fair. 15 200 visitors, around two thirds of whom came from German-speaking countries, came to Bad Salzuflen and once again made ZOW a business event and meeting place for the North and Central European market.

A particularly positive development is the increase in numbers of architects, interior designers and companies specialising in interior fittings. Numbers have doubled this year and a new ZOW target group has thereby emerged. This new development means that ZOW organiser Survey can offer its exhibitors the chance to enter into lucrative commercial property in interior design, trade fair construction and retail design. Since 2007, this visitor clientele has found its point of reference at ZOW in the form of the architectural lounge. Specialist tours around the exhibition start here, presentations take place here, the product highlights of the trade fair are presented here and it’s also a place where you can also relax and swap ideas.

As in the past the majority of ZOW exhibitors came from Germany with just under half of them coming from the region of East Westphalia. Most foreign manufacturers hailed from Italy, but a whole host of exhibitors also came from Spain, Austria, Holland and Poland. We also had some real ZOW newcomers from the growth markets of eastern Europe, like Romania, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. In total, this year’s exhibitor list covered more than 35 countries and four continents, thereby showing the fair’s great appeal to exhibitors all over the globe.

As always, the suppliers and their product innovations formed the focal point of the event, but this year, ZOW offered its visitors even more with exciting special shows on the industry’s very latest topics. The architectural lounge was home to an interesting exhibition on Universal Design, which was very well received. There was plenty to see here, from rotary bottle openers to rounded extractor hoods. Not far from the architectural lounge, the igeL community of interests presented a lightweight construction show that was in a class of its own. Here, covering an area of around 500 m², the 26 igeL member companies showcased the latest solutions in lightweight construction, which will revolutionise the furniture and fittings world.

Exciting topics for the future

Materialz invited ZOW visitors to discover the exciting world of materials. The exhibition opened up an emotionally appealing design world to visitors, inviting them to feel and examine the materials on show. Another ZOW highlight was Mediapoint. This exclusive presentation used real room setups to show how living rooms, work rooms, kitchens and bathrooms can be designed, equipped and networked with one another. Last but not least, the RFID factory and the logistics campus showed visitors how to save time and money in business using modern radio technology and optimised processes. Meanwhile, “ifurn”, the online portal for designers and planners, was celebrating its first birthday.

ZOW identifies trends and reproduces them for visitors year after year. The fittings sector once more offered impressive and technically perfected solutions with a high level of design quality for drawers, covers and doors. Zero-wear materials, hygienic coatings, and variable adjustment mechanisms for the most diverse areas of application come as standard. The trend in ornamental fittings is for puristic simplicity. Angular, clear shapes are synonymous with a design trend which perfectly underpins the new practicality of the home and fittings world. The materials used here are chrome and stainless steel with a glossy look. Mixing materials like glass, wood and leather is still very much a hot topic. With its clear, puristic line, the fitting is now more of a trendsetting design object than ever before, particularly in the living room and bedroom.

Ranging from natural to contrasting

Value and quality characterise the surfaces and fronts product division. Authentic wood looks are the hot topic for private living areas. Fruitwoods, where the wood features a large proportion of sapwood, knots or bud marks, fit this trend and such characteristics can be found in cherry, apple, pear or plum woods. Warm red and brown tones with a matt look typify the range of colours used here. A leading trendsetter is walnut, a surprising wood with a brown-grey shade which fades into olive, creating a particularly natural effect. It makes a punchy statement when combined with a white high gloss look, but it also looks good with apple green and violet.  

ZOW 2009 has once again proven its claim to be the trend barometer and business event for the furniture and development sector. The next ZOW will run at the usual time and place – from 8 to 11 February 2010 at the Bad Salzuflen trade fair centre.

To download photos, go to www.zow.de/ Press