Wayfair closes its only stand-alone store

Wayfair's first and only stand-alone store in Natick, Massachusetts, is being closed down again. The Boston-based online seller of interior decoration products opened the bricks-and-mortar store in 2019 on a space of just under 350 m2. According to Wayfair-spokeswoman Jane Carpenter, it was a great challenge to display a representative selection of the company's products in such a comparatively small area.

Ikea discontinues printed catalogue

Ikea says CU to its printed catalogue, discontinuing the popular furnishing inspiration book after 70 years. The company cites the changed, strongly digitally-oriented purchasing behaviour of Ikea customers as the main reason for this decision. "We have noticed a decreasing demand of the catalogue in many countries, people use it less and less", Ikea's CEO Jesper Brodin explained to the daily newspaper "Welt" in an interview. Instead, consumers tended to seek inspiration and information online, and that is precisely where Ikea now wants to distribute its content more widely, also with the help of apps and planning tools.

Möbel Boss opening in Viersen

Just before Christmas, on 14 December, the 106th Möbel-Boss store is opening in Viersen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The self-service furniture store is moving into part of the former premises of Möbel Klinkhamels (closed down in early 2020); upholstery specialist Möbel Trösser has moved into the other part. Möbel Boss belongs to the Porta Group; Michael Loy will be store manager in Viersen.

Oritop and Tisca: joint in-house exhibition in February

Two Austrian suppliers that offer handmade, but still very different rugs join forces to organise an in-house exhibition in February 2021: From 4 to 14 February, Oritop and Tisca Textil will be welcoming visitors at Oritop's showroom in Brunn am Gebirge near Vienna. Oritop will be showing its entire Afghanistan spectrum with creative new collections and stock items ready to sell; the woven-carpet specialist Tisca Textil has been working on new product and sales concepts over the past few months, which will now be presented for the first time. Catering will be provided. Please register at: info@oritop.at.

Winter edition of Nordstil cancelled as well

The Nordstil consumer goods fair was supposed to take place from 16 to 18 January 2021 in Hamburg, but has now been cancelled due to measures to contain the infection. The order platform for Northern Germany and Scandinavia takes place twice a year, most recently in September 2020 with, according to the organisers, "gratifyingly high exhibitor numbers".

However, since the federal and state governments have now extended the lockdown until 10 January 2021, they see "no possibility of holding Nordstil in a way that would do justice to our exhibitors and visitors", says Philipp Ferger, Business Unit Manager for the consumer goods fairs Nordstil and Tendence. In the course of January, the organisers will discuss the possibility of having the fair take place later in the first quarter of 2021.

Belgium opens furniture stores for individual visitors

As of today, 1 December, "non-essential shops" are allowed to reopen in Belgium – this also includes furniture stores. However, further restrictions apply now: people are required to shop alone or, if necessary, accompanied by a minor. The maximum stay in the shop is 30 minutes, with 10 m2 shop space per customer, and queues in front of the shop must be supervised. In addition, the known rules still apply: keeping one's distance, wearing a face mask and using hand disinfectants at the entrance.

XXXLutz: Cartel Office permits participation in Roller and Tejo's

Germany's Federal Cartel Office has cleared the Austrian XXXLutz Group's 50% shareholding in each of the companies Tejo Möbel Management Holding and Roller, which both belong to the German Tessner Group. However, the Cartel Office's okay is subject to certain conditions, and the competitive effects on the procurement markets will still have to be clarified by an ongoing procedure with the European Commission.

Home 24: Changes in the board of directors

There are some changes in the board of directors that manage the e-commerce furniture company Home 24. Philipp Steinhäuser, previously Senior Vice President Finance, is to join the board as Chief Financial Officer at the turn of the year. Board member and Chief Technology Officer Johannes Schaback will retire from the company at his own request on 1 April 2021. Home 24 will also establish an Executive Team, in which Florian Leinfelder will take over the function of Chief Technology Officer.

Salone del Mobile definitely in September

The decision has been finalised: the 60th Salone del Mobile will take place from 5 to 10 September 2021. This means that the Milan furniture fair has been moved from spring to late summer.

For the first time, the Salone will cover all product categories, together with the fairs running parallel to it: furnishing products for the home, kitchen (Eurocucina), light (Euroluce) and bathroom (Salone Internazionale del Bagno).

Barfuss with new homepage

Bright, friendly, clearly structured: Manfred Barfuss, Austrian specialist for natural carpets, has revised his homepage. The focus is on the collections "Natur Pur" (handmade, from natural wool) and "Pro Natura" (handmade with yarn from recycled PET bottles). All catalogues are available for download.