Première for Paris fair

Only about half of the exhibition space earmarked for Créabitat was actually taken up by participating firms. Although, on the whole, there were companies from all the advertised categories, including electronics/domestic appliances, sanitation, hardware and decoration, the range of products showed little variety, the major players in the industry were missing, and the manufacturers of power tools and timber products stayed away altogether.
Right from the start the organisers of Créabitat, though, had linked the new fair to Jarditec, the garden trade fair, claiming to offer a combined product range for the design and decoration of the home, not to present a broad, complete DIY assortment. The spotlight was and is on the subject of living. This was the keynote topic on which the fair organisers focused, which is reflected in the specially established “Espace Tendance” display area, where the latest creations in furniture were to be seen.
The organisers want to hold Créabitat every year, and the fact that the première did not enjoy the hoped-for success, at least in terms of exhibitor numbers, is being regarded more as a warming-up difficulty than as a structural or conceptual problem. Quojem, the former specialist DIY fair that was held every two years, experienced repeated attempts to start afresh: a “Village” concept was established, then the fair was separated from Jarditec, before being finally discontinued altogether when the last event recorded an attendance figure of 9 000 over the four days of the fair.
The organisers are confident about the coming year, though Créabitat has not yet achieved the hoped-for number of exhibitors.
It is not possible to ascertain how high the visitor figure was at Créabitat this year, since two other fairs, Urbatec and Urbavert, were held on the Villepinte exhibition site in north Paris along with Jarditec, also held in parallel. A total of 49 500 trade visitors registered overall during the three days of the fair. There were 450 exhibitors represented at Créabitat and Jarditec, of whom 38 per cent came from abroad. The Créabitat exhibitors were divided in their opinions: some deplored the quality of the trade visitors – apparently dozens of school groups romped in the aisles – and indicated that they wanted to exhibit only every two years in future. Others, on the contrary, were extremely satisfied since they had sighted buyers from all the French DIY multiples.