Premiere in Milan

The Italian industry has waited for several years to have a DIY trade fair in the country once again. This goal will be achieved on 19 April, when the doors of the Portello halls of the Milan exhibition site open for the start of the first Bricolare event. Organised by Expo cts, the event is expecting the participation of between 300 and 350 exhibitors who will be occupying an exhibition space of 15 000 m². Their range of products is broad and covers hardware, tools, paint and decoration, electrical, lighting and plumbing, and on to floor and wall coverings, structural elements and the garden.The organisers are predicting that 50 000 visitors altogether will attend the event over the four days of its run. Trade visitors are expected to make up around 20 per cent, or 10 000 of this total. Two special areas are to be created to cater for the two different target groups: one geared to the interests of consumers (la casa del bricolare) and the other to directing trade visitors towards appropriate business opportunities (la piazza della distribuzione).Bricolare's declared aim is to supply information and provide a wealth of practical experience for visitors. The fair concept is based on the old idea of making improvements to one's own home, and has set its sights on the increasingly significant trend that shows Italian families becoming more and more involved with decorating and improving their homes and gardens.There will be a programme of events and conferences to accompany the basic display of products. Topics of interest to trade visitors will include "How are consumers changing?" and "What does modern distribution demand of manufacturers?". In addition, every day there will be six one-hour workshops dealing with the subject of DIY products in the retail trade.The International Furniture Fair is due to be staged in Milan at almost exactly the same time as the first Bricolare, i.e. from 18 - 23 April. To be held in the new Rho-Pero fair complex, it is an event that the organisers are certain will provide a great boost to the number of trade visitors to the first DIY show. After all, the furniture fair attracted more than 220 000 visitors last year, and over half of them were from 146 countries of origin.
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