NKBA collaborated with German manufacturers and trade associations to host American designers and buyers.
By Dianne M. Pogoda
NKBA hosted its second International Buyers Tour at the German Haus Fair, bringing 21 American designers and buyers to explore design districts, factories and showrooms in Germany, with the intent to foster commercial relationships between American specifiers and German suppliers.
The tour, a part of NKBA’s Global Connect program, took place Sept. 19 to 24, and brought guests to the design districts and showroom buildings in northern Germany known as Area 30, Architekturwerkstatt, House4Kitchen and Kitchen Center Löehne, as well as the showrooms of sponsors Bora, nobilia, Hettich and BauTeam. All four sponsors will be exhibiting at KBIS 2024 in the Global Connect Pavilion, Feb. 27-29 in Las Vegas.
Among the tour’s many highlights:
- The first showroom stop was Bora, an award-winning brand founded in 2007. Its mission is to revolutionize the kitchen as “a living space with extraordinary experiences.” Bora’s high-end products are quiet, eco-friendly and easy to clean. This Bora flagship space opened just five days before the group visited. The new 21,000 square-foot showroom spotlights the Bora brand in a living space designed for people to cook, relax and mingle, free of noisy range hoods and cooking odors. Bora’s cooktop extractor systems effectively and quietly filter out odors and are easy to clean, and contribute to a pleasant environment. It also produces professional caliber steam ovens and baking systems, refrigeration, lighting, supplies and accessories for residential use. Learn more about Bora here.
- Next up, the group visited nobilia, which is well known to many in the American kitchen and bath community, as it has been an NKBA member for many years. Mikael Åkerberg, CEO of nobilia North America, is a member of NKBA’s National Board of Directors. Nobilia is Europe’s largest cabinet manufacturer, building intelligently engineered kitchens and cabinetry for holistic interior design throughout the whole home. After the extensive showroom and factory tour, nobilia hosted a dinner and after-party. Learn more about nobilia here.
- Day 3 began with a tour of the Hettich showroom. Hettich is also a longtime NKBA member and sponsor of NKBA’s highly touted monthly webinar series. Hettich makes precision-crafted hardware for kitchen furniture, drawers, doors and other applications, from hinges to runners, sliding and folding systems and more. Hettich introduced a new cabinet innovation, the “FurnSpin” system, that spins to reveal shelving and provide easy access to contents, or spins closed for a sleek, streamlined look. The units offer soft-close and push-to-open features for handleless furniture design. Learn more about Hettich here.
- At BauTeam, a collective of German suppliers focused on lifestyle, design, architecture and technologies, the group was treated to an exquisite breakfast created by Gerrit Hesemann, a 2-Michelin Star chef, that included caviar and oysters, followed by a showroom tour. BauTeam is home to BT45 high-quality tailored kitchens designed and manufactured in Germany to exacting standards using precision laser technology. Discover more about BauTeam here.
Among the design districts visited, guests had lunch at Area30, which is produced by Trendfairs, an NKBA Global Connect Alliance Partner. Area30 is a standalone trade show comprising about 150 brands in the central location of Löhne.
The tour stopped at Architekturwerkstatt, where exhibitors presented highlights of their 2024 collections. The exhibition center for the premium kitchen market expanded this year with a new 43,000 square-foot hall. Among the companies moving into the new space with permanent showrooms are Leicht, Liebherr, V-Zug, Inalco, Gessi, Dekker Zevenhuizen, Steel and Rodi. Out4kitchen and refsta Handels GmbH exhibited during the Küchenmeile A30 show period.
At Kitchen Center Löehne, tour participants visited a large exhibition/office complex that showcased AEG, Saxon Kitchens, Impulsus Kitchens, Puri’s Bathroom, Ozonos and Zanussi.
Also in the Löhne district, house4kitchen is home to six brands – Franke, Gaggenau, Neff, next125, Student and Solitaire – that presented their latest appliances, cookware and fixtures.
NKBA hosted a special dinner at Glueck und Seligkeit, a restaurant in a renovated 19th century church that provided an immersive experience in its neo-Gothic-style sanctuary, with German trade associations VDM and AMK, who are also a Global Connect Alliance Partner.
NKBA tour guests’ accommodations included the Burg Hotel in Trendelburg, a 13th century castle and fortress that’s known as the original “Rapunzel” castle from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale published in 1812, and the Hotel Bielelfeder Hof, an elegant hotel built in 1901 in the heart of the charming, historic town of Bielefeld.
To enjoy videos of this year’s German Haus Fair Tour, go here.
Applications to attend a future International Buyers Tour will be available early in 2024.
