An exhibitor list from a furniture, home textile or housewares fair gathers manufacturers, brands, importers and wholesalers in one place. These companies supply retail chains and hotel projects, so they look for new suppliers and contract manufacturers. Reviewing the list before the fair and writing to the right firms is the shortest route to the chain and the project.
Who exhibits at home and living fairs?
An exhibitor list shows the companies with a stand. At home and living fairs they fall into five groups:
- Manufacturer
- Factory making furniture, bed linen, towels, curtains, rugs or tableware, under its own brand or for others (private label).
- Brand
- Runs design and sales itself and outsources part of production. Looks for contract manufacturers and material suppliers.
- Importer and wholesaler
- Buys abroad and distributes to retailers in its own country. Most routes to a retail chain pass through here.
- Contract company
- Supplies furniture and textiles to hotel, office and residential projects and carries out interior fit-out.
- Materials and components
- Fabric, yarn, trims, furniture fittings and surface suppliers.
Buyers from large retail chains mostly attend these fairs as visitors. Why visitor data is a different matter is explained in our trade fair visitor list article.
Which furniture and home textile fairs stand out?
- Heimtextil: the international fair for home and contract textiles, held every January in Frankfurt by Messe Frankfurt. Strong on bed linen, towels, curtains and upholstery fabrics.
- Ambiente: the consumer goods fair for dining, kitchen, housewares and gifts, also Messe Frankfurt, every February in Frankfurt.
- Maison&Objet: the decoration, furniture and lifestyle fair at Paris Nord Villepinte, held twice a year (January and September). A meeting point for independent retail and design brands.
- IIFF (International Istanbul Furniture Fair): held in January in Istanbul with the support of the Turkish furniture federation MOSFED, across two venues at the same time. The main fair where Turkish furniture makers meet foreign buyers.
Related fair pages in our directory: Heimtextil 2027, Ambiente, Maison&Objet January 2027, IIFF 2027 Uluslararası İstanbul Mobilya Fuarı. Some brands also run editions in other countries, so check the city and dates on each page. Always confirm dates on the official fair website.
Which furniture and textile fairs are coming up?
Our directory currently holds 6 upcoming fairs tagged Furniture and 24 tagged Textiles (a fair can carry both tags). The Textiles tag also covers apparel fabric fairs. Fairs with a ready exhibitor list come first.
| Trade fair | Dates | Location | Exhibitor list |
|---|---|---|---|
| IIFF 2027 Uluslararası İstanbul Mobilya Fuarı | 19–23 January 2027 | Istanbul, Türkiye | Ready, 120 companies |
| R+T | 15–19 February 2027 | Stuttgart, Germany | Ready, 797 companies |
| DOMOTEX South East Asia | 11–13 November 2026 | Bangkok, Thailand | Not yet |
| ASFW | 12–15 November 2026 | Addis Abeba, Ethiopia | Not yet |
| IATF - International Apparel & Textile Fair | 16–18 November 2026 | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Not yet |
| Fast Textile | 17–19 November 2026 | Lodz, Poland | Not yet |
| 6. Piktech Denizli Tekstil Fuarı | 19–21 November 2026 | Denizli, Türkiye | Not yet |
| Towel Expo Denizli Havlu Bornoz Otel Tekstili ve Teknolojileri Fuarı | 19–21 November 2026 | Denizli, Türkiye | Not yet |
| ITMA Asia + CITME | 20–24 November 2026 | Shanghai, China | Not yet |
| 7. Interdye & Textile Printing Eurasia | 25–27 November 2026 | Istanbul, Türkiye | Not yet |
| SAUDI INTERMOBILITY EXPO | 30 November – 2 December 2026 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Not yet |
| SteelFab | 11–14 January 2027 | Sharjah, United Arab Emirates | Not yet |
| INTERFILIERE PARIS | 16–18 January 2027 | Paris, France | Not yet |
| Val:ue Milan Spring | 3–5 February 2027 | Milan, Italy | Not yet |
| Stockholm Furniture Fair - Möbelmesse Stockholm | 9–12 February 2027 | Stockholm, Sweden | Not yet |
Every fair, with month and country filters, is on the furniture trade fairs and textile trade fairs pages. All fairs with a ready list are collected under exhibitor lists.
How do you reach retail, import and contract buyers?
The three buyer types work differently, and each means looking at different rows in the list:
| Buyer you want to reach | Companies to look for and what they expect |
|---|---|
| Retail chain | Importers and brands that supply the chain. They ask for price, collection calendar, private label capacity and certificates. |
| Importer and wholesaler | Importers exhibiting from the target country. They ask for container prices, minimum order quantities and lead times. |
| Contract buyer (hotel, office) | Contract furniture and fit-out firms. They may ask for made-to-measure production, project schedules and technical documents such as fire performance tests. |
| Brand looking for a contract manufacturer | Firms exhibiting under their own brand that outsource part of production |
A retail chain usually meets a new supplier through an importer or a brand. Writing to the importer whose products are already on that chain's shelves often works faster than writing to the chain. For contract buyers, timing decides: suppliers are not chosen before the project schedule is set.
How do you use the list around the fair dates?
- Six to eight weeks ahead: filter by country and product group and sort targets into importers, brands and contract firms.
- Four to five weeks ahead: send a short introduction, a catalogue link and a meeting request. See our meeting request email templates.
- Fair week: alongside booked meetings, visit targets who did not reply with samples or swatch cards.
- Two weeks after: follow up with price lists and a sample schedule. See trade fair follow-up.
These time frames are rough practical guidance, not measured figures.
Collections are set by season, so the weeks after the January and February fairs are busy with order talks. If you are not travelling, see reaching exhibitors without attending. In Expomatik the list is opened in your account; campaigns go to each company's general address and opens are not measured.
What does a short, honest first message look like?
Subject: Private label cotton bed linen and towels
Hello, we would be grateful if you could pass this to your buying or product development team.
We make cotton bed linen and towels and deliver under our customers' brands, in their packaging. We would like to show our swatch book at the fair and hear about your collection calendar for next season. If you share a convenient time, we can bring samples.
If this is not relevant, a short reply is enough and we will not write again.
The company in the example is illustrative.
Which rules apply before you email exhibitors?
In the UK, PECR does not require prior consent for marketing emails to corporate subscribers such as limited companies, but you must identify yourself and offer an opt-out; sole traders are treated as individuals. Other countries have their own rules, and Germany requires prior consent even for business recipients. Our guide Is It Legal to Email Trade Fair Exhibitors? covers the details. This article is general information, not legal advice.
Related reading
Sources compared in how to get an exhibitor list. Other sectors: construction fairs and packaging and plastics fairs; general routes abroad in finding international B2B customers. List and sending fees are on Pricing; to start reviewing lists, create a free account.
Frequently asked questions
- Are retail chain buyers in the exhibitor list?
- Usually not. Large retail chains walk these fairs as visitors rather than exhibiting. The exhibitor list shows manufacturers, brands, wholesalers and importers. For a supplier who wants to reach a chain, the realistic targets in the list are the importers and brands that already supply it.
- Which companies should I look for to sell furniture into hotel projects?
- Contract furniture and interior fit-out companies, hotel equipment suppliers and the project departments of larger manufacturers. They win work from main contractors on hospitality projects and look for suppliers.
- Are all fairs tagged Textiles about home textiles?
- No. The Textiles tag also covers apparel fabrics, yarn and textile machinery fairs. For home textiles, check the fair name in the table and the product groups on the fair page.
- Where can I see the price of a list?
- The price is shown in your account before you open the list. Plans and sending fees are on the Pricing page.