“An alternative to Asia”

The Home Improvement & DIY Suppliers Exhibition in Istanbul is moving to a later date. Next year the fair will take place from 22 to 25 November and is expected to occupy halls 1 and 3 of the CNR Exhibition Centre. The second edition of the fair in mid-September 2011 drew 7 423 visitors, according to the organiser Mediaforce (supported by the trade magazine Tedarik). DIY store buyers came from western and eastern Europe, the USA, the Middle East and Turkey. The view of John Herbert, general secretary of the European DIY Retail Association EDRA, is that “in the future this trade fair will become increasingly important to our members as a means of sourcing products as an alternative to the dominance of Chinese and Asian products”. At the opening of the exhibition, Murat Gigin, CEO of the Turkish DIY chain Tekzen, estimated the volume of the DIY sector in Turkey at US $ 25-30 bn. A detailed report will appear in the trade magazine DIY International in the latest issue due out this week.