imm cologne, which took place from 20th-23rd January, saw 339 exhibitors from 28 countries present home furniture from the entry-level price point to the mid-range segment.
Reporting an audience of more than 10,000 trade visitors – approximately 57% of them from outside Germany – organiser Koelnmesse says the show's new B2B-focused concept "has proved itself as an event that can be counted on to kick off the new year for the international interior design industry".
“In a challenging market environment, efficiency is what counts above all," says Matthias Pollmann, VP trade fair management at Koelnmesse. "This is exactly why we’ve created a focused B2B sourcing platform with imm cologne 2026 – an event where visitors can quickly gain an overview, make strategic purchasing decisions and establish new contacts. And that is exactly what exhibitors and trade visitors used the event for.”
Under the banner of World of Interiors, imm cologne provided a forum for comparing collections, sourcing and designing ranges at the start of the new year, across a gross exhibition area of 53,000 sqm.
"On the visitor side, the sharper focus on the B2B trade at imm cologne 2026 met the industry’s needs," Koelnmesse reports. "Significant decision-makers from purchasing associations, retail chains, the wholesale and specialist retail trade, ecommerce companies and mail order businesses travelled to Cologne to view suppliers’ collections and establish partnerships."
The largest visitor groups in Europe came from Belgium, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands. On the exhibitor side, suppliers from Asia were particularly well represented, with China emerging as the clear leader with 252 exhibitors.
“imm cologne 2026 has shown how important it is to adapt event formats to market conditions. We’re grateful to exhibitors and visitors for the trust they have placed in us,” says Bernd Sanden, imm cologne’s director. “It has given us the encouragement we need to continue developing the trade fair’s profile for 2027.”
The next edition of imm cologne will run from 19th-22nd January 2027.
