Interview: “A huge variety of carpets at one place – all within one week”

Carpet Week Hamburg: it’s time to get up close and personal with carpets again, to not only see but also touch … discovering new products and trends, engaging in dialogue and placing a few orders too, of course. The Carpet Week initiative will bring more than 20 high-energy carpet wholesalers together in Hamburg (Germany) as they open their warehouse doors for international trade visitors. With the Domotex trade fair having been cancelled twice in a row now due to the pandemic, this concept was devised to fill the gap, providing an intriguing new platform for the industry. Carpet Home talked to event initiators (and exhibitors) Homayoun Farhadian of Faradj & Homayoun Farhadian and Dr. Ali Ipektchi of Ipek – A. Ipektchi.

Carpet Home: What is the idea behind Carpet Week Hamburg ?

Homayoun Farhadian: When we heard that Domotex 2022 was again not going to be held, eight of us Hamburg traders sat down together to come up with a plan. And Hamburg is an ideal location with so many wholesalers being headquartered here. And the landscape is highly varied, with everything from full-range knotted carpet providers to antique carpet specialists—that’s what makes it so attractive. So in December we came up with the idea of Carpet Week Hamburg as our own private trade show, and a mere three weeks later we had over 20 exhibitors slated for a set date. There was clearly real excitement about the idea.

Dr. Ali Ipektchi: After all, we’re talking about an absolutely fundamental thing, as there is simply no alternative to talking with others face-to-face. Nowadays so many things are done by phone or online only. The pandemic has exacerbated the trend already in place, which of course does have its positive aspects. But I believe it’s simply part of the process for buyers to regularly visit their suppliers and see what’s out there in the market. The difference is, it can happen that you may discover a special piece in stock that is simply perfect for your customers. You don’t find things like that in any standard assortment.

So our idea revolved around being there on site to get inspired by new things. That’s what makes trade fairs so interesting ... and why we can’t do without them. Carpet Week Hamburg is an event where opportunities are bundled and multiplied: new products, collections and price info.

Homayoun Farhadian: The long dry spell of trade fairs made us extremely motivated to come up with an event to look forward to again. When you know Carpet Week is coming up this May, you know you need to stock the warehouse up and have new products at the ready.

Carpet Home: What makes Hamburg so unique as a location ?

Dr. Ali Ipektchi: It’s no accident that Hamburg is known as the world capital of carpet trading. Working in this industry, you’ll end up in Hamburg one way or another. Major traders have their headquarters here, who will be getting a new card in their hand to play with Carpet Week Hamburg, where a huge variety of carpets can be seen in one place but concentrated into one week, rather than over the course of a year. And then of course there’s everything our graceful Hanseatic city has to offer on top of that. For buyers it is critically important to explore the market in person—more so than ever now after two years of the pandemic.

Homayoun Farhadian: The market has changed overall, but there are still more importers in Hamburg than in other major carpet hubs around the world, to say nothing of our beautiful Speicherstadt warehouse district, and our venerable history here.

Dr. Ali Ipektchi: Coming to Carpet Week Hamburg will be like a carpet trip around the world for buyers – to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, China, India, Iran ... all within a few short days, because so many of us await your visit here. What better way to keep abreast of the latest, here at one of the largest carpet marketplaces in the world.

We also believe it is in retailers’ interest too, both national and international, to strengthen Hamburg as a location. For here you get to do your purchasing of ‘ready-made’ goods for your stores, at a location that is practically right around the corner. Carpet Week Hamburg is an ideal instrument to make new contacts and keep existing relationships fresh this year.

Carpet Home: How does Carpet Week Hamburg see itself in relation to Domotex ?

Dr. Ali Ipektchi: By no means do we see this as some kind of competing event to Domotex; I could not possibly emphasise that enough. The nature of this event, how it’s structured – Carpet Week Hamburg will certainly not be a substitute for an international trade fair, nor is it intended to be. Also, some companies exhibiting here aren’t showing there, and vice versa. Many Hamburg-based companies, including some not exhibiting at Domotex, will be presenting themselves and opening up their warehouses and showrooms for the first time to be a part of this opportunity.

Carpet Home: Who is the event targeted at precisely; who all will be coming to Carpet Week Hamburg ?

Homayoun Farhadian: The event is aimed at everyone in the industry who has “carpet responsibility” in any form. We’re talking about purchasing managers of furniture stores, online sellers as well as individual store proprietors.

Dr. Ali Ipektchi: Everyone is invited who has an interest in looking around in the market to see the latest ... and is looking forward to finally getting to touch the wares again.

Carpet Home: What might the future be for Carpet Week Hamburg afterward ?

Homayoun Farhadian: We are simply enthused at this point at this great move we are making in response to the situation. The idea was ‘nothing has to be perfect, let’s just get out there and do it’. But Carpet Week Hamburg does have potential to develop into an event of regional stature but with a global reputation, gaining brand traction as a self-organised trade show. It could be annual or semi-annual, but the crucial things is for every single exhibitor to be fully committed, getting their latest products together to show and doing the work to invite targeted customers to the event. For next time we are considering organising a program around the actual exhibiting as an enhancement, with presentations and other activities – while still leaving plenty of time in between to get into conversations with others. That will have to be fleshed out, we’ll be working on that in dialogue with our exhibitors.

Dr. Ali Ipektchi: We want Carpet Week Hamburg to be a really strong event that merchants in the industry simply don’t want to miss. It’s something new we’re doing here, and it takes work – it’s not going to organise itself! Though we are experienced in marketing our businesses. We should deliberately leverage the strength of our location, which is a valuable asset that requires little of us to exploit. I’m really looking forward to Carpet Week Hamburg, which is destined to be a winning event for the industry, but is already a good thing for us in Hamburg.


Carpet Week Hamburg – Teilnehmer:

Afghan Bazar
Am Sandtorkai 34, Hamburg, www.afghanbazarcarpets.com

Akbar Trading
Am Sandtorkai 27, Hamburg, www.akbartrading.de

Akhavan Farshtchi
Lademannbogen 22, Hamburg, www.loomsofpersia.com

AWT Trading
Am Sandtorkai 25-36, Hamburg, www.wahdat-teppiche.com

Bidabadi
Brook 9, Hamburg, www.bidabadi.com

Bo-Tepp
Brook 8, Hamburg, www.botepp.de

Mahmoud Chavoshinia Trading
Brook 6, Hamburg

EFTA
Brooktorkai 7, Hamburg, www.etfa.com

Faradj & Homayoun Farhadian
Oehleckerring 25, Hamburg, www.farhadian-shop.com

Ipek – A. Ipektchi
Borsteler Chaussee 85-99a, Hamburg, www.ipektchi.com

Jambros Europe
Borsteler Chaussee 85-99a, Hamburg

M2Rugs – Marcel Müller
Holsteinischer Kamp 37, Hamburg, www.m2rugs.com

Mirzazadeh
Brooktorkai 3, Hamburg, www.mirzazadeh.com

Ali Mohammadi
Brooktorkai 3, Hamburg, www.alimohammadi.com

Mohammad Khani
Brooktorkai 7, Hamburg

Mohammadzadeh & Sohn
Lademannbogen 22, Hamburg, www.mohammadzadeh.de

Monadjem & Saifar
Brooktorkai 8, Hamburg, www.monadjem-saifar.com

Motamedi´s
Offakamp 9c, Hamburg, www.motamedis.com

Naziri
Neue ABC-Straße 7, Hamburg, www.mnaziri.com

Yaghoube S. Nowbari
Brook 8, Hamburg, www.nowbari.de

Old Oriental Rugs – Djavid Nazir
Brook 3, Hamburg

Rimex
Brooktorkai 10, Hamburg, www.rimex-razavi.com

Sadiq & Sohn
Brook 5, Hamburg, www.sadiqundsohn.de

Satar Carpet
Brooktorkai 3, Hamburg, www.satar-carpet.com

Bahram Tahbaz
Lademannbogen 137, Hamburg, www.tahbaz.de

Tepp Team
Obenhauptstraße 4, Hamburg, www.teppteam.de

Carpet Home-Newsletter: Click here for free newsletter subscription