For the past 28 years, Le Marché has been both a platform for displaying the best, most trendy products available in the market and a forum for exchanging ideas and strategies for reaching the target audience. This year Le Marché was even bigger and better!
Le Marché XXIX consisted of 140 exhibitors and more than 250 companies. It was held for four consecutive days starting from November 19th from 11 am till 11 pm at the Cairo International Conference Center (CICC). Marché is organized by Arab African Promoters for International Conferences & Exhibitions (AAPIC) and a trademark of Tarek Nour. The Exhibition was under the auspices of the Minister of Culture Mr. Farouk Hosny. The Main sponsor of Le Marché was Samsung. Other sponsors were Selections, Ossama El Shahed and American Furniture. Catering was done by Crave and a Costa Coffee outlet was also available.The Exhibition was opened by AAPIC CEO Ahmed el Shennawy on Thursday November 19th at noon.
The theme for the exhibition was designed by Interior Designer and Owner of Madar Company Mohamed Noaman, for the fifth time. This year’s theme combined elements from nature such as leaves, flowers, and butterflies. The colors used were green and turquoise.
According to Shennawy, this year’s exhibition is different than all the previous ones in various things. The 29th exhibition features for the first time international brands and prominent designers in addition to the furniture manufactures, suppliers and retailers who were always available. This is considered an increase in the category of the exhibitors. “Some of the brands exhibiting for the first time are Rolf Benz, Bo Concept, Natuzzi and La Maison Coloniale,” said Le Marché Project Manager Ghada Fayek.
The second difference this year is that the exhibitors have worked hard on their displays because of the competition that AAPIC has organized for the first time to reward the best three booths. Some exhibitors had very creative attractive displays and there were a lot of different styles. This has resulted in a better outlook for the whole exhibition. The rewards will be determined by Mr. Farouk Hosny in his visit to the exhibition on Saturday November 21st at 7:30 and they will be given to the exhibitors on the last day of the 29th Le Marché.
The Seminar:
The third difference is that for the first time AAPIC organized a seminar that brought together Prominent French Designer Christophe Pillet, Renowned Egyptian Interior Designer Dr Mohamed Noaman and Chairman of Egyptian Furniture Export Council Ahmed Helmy making Le Marché more than just an exhibition but a venue for education about the interior design and furniture industry. The seminar was held on Friday November 20th at 5:00 pm in Mankaure Hall and included an audience of about 200 people, mostly students. According to Fayek, this is considered a very good outcome since it is the first year for the seminar and since the only advertisements for it were a face book and university rollups. Nevertheless, the advertisements for the exhibition consisted of Outdoor, radio and print ads as well as new paper articles.
The Ideal Home:
Pillet demonstrated the how, who experience by furnishing the ‘Ideal Home’ using items from Le Marché. His ideal home consisted of a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, a bathroom and a bedroom from different exhibitors including Bo Concept, Natuzzi, Ossama El Shahed, Jotun, Roche Bobois, Williams, Style Design, Nasr Parquet, Image, Ideal Standard, Architouch, Pinocchio and Continental Comfort.
Express Yourself:
Dr Mohamed Noaman talked about how each person can express him/her self in design. He talked about how people’s tastes vary and mentioned as a rule of thumb that each person must know what they like before they start to furnish their home.
Design and Industry:
Mr. Ahmed Helmy talked about design and the industry. He explained how to benefit from young talents mentioning the workshops and training that are done to help and motivate those youth.
Le Marché Catalogue:
The fourth difference is that Le Marché ‘s catalogue this year competes with the catalogues of both Image and Selections not only interns of content and printing but also because of its availability in the market throughout the whole year. The catalogue’s cover was designed by Mohamed Noaman. It includes interviews with Christophe Pillet and Mona Hussein as well as a word from TNC chairman Tarek Nour in addition to pictures of the exhibitors products and designs . Le Marché Catalogue Manager Yasmin Hosny assured that there has been a high demand on the catalogue and that many visitors have commented about its improvement.
The fifth difference is that the exhibition opens and closes one hour later than previously. This is due to the comments of the exhibitors and the visitors that it used to open so early and close too early. Moreover, this year AAPIC designed and produced two booths at the exhibition; Mohamed Noaman’s Kenzo booth and Cystal Asfour’s.
Finally, AAPIC has hired a cleaning company this year, other than the one already present at the CICC, to ensure the cleanliness of the place and especially the bathrooms!