by Allison Zisko
FRANKFURT, German–Ambiente, one of Europe’s largest trade fairs, will have a new look next year as organizer Messe Frankfurt opens a new hall and redesigns the existing floor plan.
As a result, the tabletop and housewares sections of the fair will no longer be located in Halls 10 and 9, respectively.
The restructuring will enable Messe Frankfurt to give a sharper focus to the individual sections of the show, which are grouped under the categories of “living,” “giving” and “dining.” Tabletop and housewares fall under the “dining” group.
The change will keep the show “up to date and modern,” according to Dr. Michael Peters, a member of the Messe Frankfurt board, which announced the changes during a press conference Sunday. “Sometimes we have to change things.”
The restructuring will better group product categories and make it easier for attendees to navigate the show, he added.
The changes, which, with the addition of Hall 11, will effectively rotate the floor plan 180 degrees and significantly change the way some vendors are accustomed to doing business in Frankfurt. The permanent stands on the upper floors of Hall 10, which house leading tabletop companies such as Villeroy & Boch, Rosenthal, WMF and Schott Zwiesel, among others, will be dismantled in the coming days and replaced next year with temporary booths in Hall 4. Halls 10.4 and 10.5 “will be taken off the network,” according to Dr. Peters, who did not specify how that space will be utilized in the future.
In 2010, all the tabletop stands previously located in Hall 10 will be found in Hall 4. They will be grouped on individual floors according to various criteria: contemporary design companies will be located on 4.0, high-end, “prestige” companies will be found on 4.1, and brand-oriented as well as companies targeting mass channels of distribution will be on Hall 4.2.
Housewares occupants of Hall 9, which supply everything for cooks, such as cookware, bakeware and cutlery, will be relocated to Hall 3, while housewares and storage vendors, many of whom are now housed in Hall 8, will move to Halls 5 and 6.