Crowded aisles

The International Hardware Fair is alive and kicking. There was an air of almost unusual confidence at this year's Hardware Fair, which hasn't been felt for many years. It was like a kick-start for the industry. "Crowded aisles and full order books", was how Koelnmesse summarised the event. That hits the nail right on the head.
When the Hardware Fair finally closed its doors on 8th March, the last of the three day event (previously 4 days), around 44 000 trade visitors from 124 countries had come and gone. "We're delighted with the outstanding results of the Hardware Fair 2016. The DIY Boulevard went down exceptionally well and the stands were well-attended", summarized Katharina C. Hamma, Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse.The conceptual changes ­really paid off. The exhibition space covered 144 000 m² and was comparable to the level of previous years. Germany was the country with the biggest exhibitor growth - increasing significantly by 6.3 per cent. In addition to Germany, other European exhibitors were also strongly represented e.g. France, Great Britain, Italy and Spain.

The DIY Boulevard that spanned 230 metres through the centre of Hall 5.1 set important impulses. Amongst the exhibitors were well-known trade fair returnees. "In contrast to the previous fairs, this time we had an ongoing rush of visitors at our stand every day. Of course, we put this down to the DIY Boulevard, which was very popular with all parties involved - with both the exhibitors and the buyers - and which had a sort of magnetic attraction", was how Dr. Peter Wüst, Managing Director of Construction, Home Improvement and Garden Trade Association e. V. (BHB), evaluated the new format. 
The DIY Boulevard was just one of the new formats that Koelnmesse had initiated in the run-up to the 2016 event and which also increased the media attention. Alongside the DIY Boulevard, the E-Commerce Arena by SSI Schäfer also had a crowd-pulling effect on the trade visitors.