Benefits From I.W.S. Stand At Frankfurt

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31987, 14 May 1969, Page 10

Benefits From I.W.S. Stand At Frankfurt

In the last few years the ' mass of German consumers— ' like those in France, Holland, ] Switzerland and other Euro- i pean countries—have dis- ’ covered wall-to-wail carpet- i ing, traditionally the privilege of the well-to-do. The ' almost simultaneous advent of synthetics and the tufting process of making carpet brought wall-to-wall within the reach of everyone, says a New Zealand Wool Board release. Last year, in Germany alone, tufted wall-to-wall carpeting had grown to 30 million square yards, an increase of 25 per cent over the previous year. Wool’s share of this vast market was only 3 per cent in 1967. Since then wool has made a strong challenge to take a larger share of the market and the International

Wool Secretariat has played a leading role. The I.W.S. stand at the Frankfurt Spring Fair, the northern hemisphere’s most important carpet fair, is a good reflection of the development. In 1966, the German industries produced a total of 12 wall-to-wall qualities in pure new wool—not enough for a stand. Ip 1967, there was a stand but it was still difficult to find a sufficient variety of qualities in all Europe to make the display fairly attractive. Retailers Attracted In 1968, the situation had so much improved that it was difficult to accommodate all the beautiful samples offered to I.W.S. for the Frankfurt Fair. At this year’s fair, held last February, there were 47 Woolmark qualities from Germany alone and a grand total of 1276 from all over Europe. No other stand at Frankfurt gave manufacturers and

buyers the opportunity to see, in one spot, such a catalogue of European carpets. Often retailers and wholesalers brought in their manufacturers, to point out types and styles of carpet which interested them for the coming year. Mr Jurgen Brandes, I.W.S. technical co-ordinator for the carpet drive in Europe, commented: “The main interest was in piece-dyeing methods, and the development of new textures and styles. There’s no doubt that the industry was impressed by what it found on the I.W.S. stand. “We exchanged information, agreed on the production of carpet samples at I.W.S. pilot plants, or arranged to visit mills to con-■•-•tactad Ueaara J. A. Moloney. F. W. Larcombe and J. Moffitt were all re-elected to represent the Christchurch Centre at a meeting of the New Zealand Bowls Association’s council in Christchurch on June 25 and 2S.

duct joint proving trials for new wool lines. In short, most of our really important projects for the ensuing year have emerged from our stand at Frankfurt.”

The I.W.S. also displayed 600 examples of Woolmark upholstery fabrics, including some using the “muiti-krome" piece-dyeing methods originally developed for carpets. . Mr Alphonse Van Goethem, from the I.W.S. Belgian branch, said manufacturers who had been using synthetic fibres or wool-synthetic blends were now being attracted to 100 per cent wool by the “muiti-krome” process. “They can now sell 100 per cent wool for the Mme price as their former synthetic or blend fabrics,” he Mid. “A wide range of colour combinations and textures can be developed.” Teur »f Spain.—R. Pingeon (France) has won the 19«» Tour of Spain cycle race.