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With summer heating up, many independent retailers are capitalizing on gardening and outdoor living products. Learn how spoga+gafa, the international garden fair hosted annually in Germany, can introduce a wealth of new products and information to help you plant seeds with customers.
This year, spoga+gafa takes place Sept. 1-3 in Cologne, Germany, and will present the latest outdoor living products from a collection of some of the world’s most innovative manufacturers. Featuring more than 2,000 manufacturers from 61 countries, the show is a leading force for future garden and outdoor living product trends.
Claim your free ticket and register to learn if you qualify as a VIP Buyer for the upcoming spoga+gafa event now.
To learn more about the biggest garden and outdoor living trade fair in the world, Hardware Retailing spoke to spoga+gafa director Stefan Lohrberg.
Sprawling more than 2.5 million square feet, the event includes four separate product segments: Garden Unique, where industry analysts present outdoor living information; Garden Creation and Care, where visitors learn about specific plants and soil mixtures for healthy gardens; Garden BBQ, which gives attendees a look at the latest grilling and barbecue products; and Garden Living, where show attendees browse the latest sports, camping and outdoor leisure products.
Lohrberg says every attendee is sure to find something that captures their interest and provides new opportunities for their business. For a photo tour of the 2018 event, click here.
A Focus on Urban Greenery
Lohrberg says this year’s event will focus on the theme of city gardening, or gardening without a garden. He calls urban gardening a “mega-trend” and says it is an important subject to highlight at this year’s event.
To showcase the trend, spoga+gafa organizers will install several kiosks around the show floor, each focusing on a different aspect of urban gardening and related products to help bring information and products to event attendees in a variety of formats.
“We see that city gardening, especially with garden creation and care, is a critical topic for products,” Lohrberg says. “In the past few years, we’ve seen more people living in cities but wanting their own green spaces. They might only have a terrace or a small backyard, but there are still ways to add green space.”
Explore the Outdoor Furniture Trend Show
Lohrberg says one of the most important aspects of outdoor living for many consumers is bringing the right furniture into their spaces. He says spoga+gafa will have many opportunities for attendees to browse the latest selection of outdoor furniture, which has grown more sophisticated than the lawn chairs of yesterday. Furniture at spoga+gafa combines design, ergonomics and multifunctionality to bring comfort and style to every outdoor space, according to Lohrberg.
“One of the new aspects will be the Trends Show: Outdoor Furniture and Decoration. There will be an international panel that previews the garden trends for the next year. That will be very interesting for visitors from garden centers and independent home improvement operations.”
Get Inspired at the Outdoor Kitchen World
One of the core concepts fueling greater interest in outdoor living is the outdoor kitchen. Lohrberg says more consumers across the world are beginning to incorporate full-service kitchens into their outdoor living spaces, and for home improvement retailers, that trend could translate to new sales potential. From classic grills to state-of-the-art innovations, spoga+gafa’s Outdoor Kitchen World will present an international look at the latest outdoor kitchen trends shaping the channel.
“Many of the North American visitors I’ve spoken to have gone absolutely crazy about the outdoor kitchen products,” he says. “We’re presenting the biggest outdoor kitchen product collection. We’ll show how outdoor kitchens are affecting garden design, which is an opportunity to show new construction trends.”
