FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany — The exhibit floor stayed busy Tuesday as Texcare International 2008 beat its 2004 attendance figures on the fourth day of its five-day run. Crowds are slowly dwindling today as the show — widely considered a success — heads for the finish line.
“We’re very satisfied with the results,” says Dirk John, project manager with show planner Messe Frankfurt. “We have more exhibitors, more space sold and also, the number of visitors will be increased. As of today, we have more visitors than we did at the 2004 show.”
Officials didn’t yet have a final total, but John guessed that the show could exceed a total of 15,000 attendees by the time the doors close at 5 p.m. today; in 2004, Texcare drew 13,331 people. With 256 exhibitors, the show had already exceeded the previous Frankfurt show in contracts and exhibit space.
A twin focus on drycleaning and laundry may have contributed to Texcare’s success. Forum sessions focused on industrial laundry Monday and Tuesday, keeping crowds strong after addressing drycleaning issues over the weekend.
Yesterday’s standing-room-only Forum sessions had a special emphasis on the reusable-textiles market, which is strong in Europe, according to figures collected by the European Textile Services Association (ETSA). Reusable textiles experienced 6% growth from 2004 to 2005, led by demand in the healthcare (9%) and workwear (7%) markets.
But exhibitors were pleased across the board — even those targeting an embattled drycleaning market. “It started off busy and it stayed busy all four days,” says Stephen Languilli, representing European machinery company Multimatic/Ilsa, manufacturers of the Columbia/Ilsa brand in the United States. “We’re all very pleased.”
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