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IHA’s blog features informative posts written to keep the housewares industry educated and informed about key strategic issues and IHA member services.

Discovering Design: Big Dragon Studios LLC/Zeewok LLC

Discovering Design: Big Dragon Studios LLC/Zeewok LLC By Vicki Matranga Design Programs + Services Get to know the people behind the stylish products that will appear at the 2014 International Home + Housewares Show in Discover Design. We’ll be posting conversations with exhibitors to give you a glimpse of the inspirations, influences and ideas that go into creating the…

HECNA: The Two Latin Americas

Companies who sell to Latin America or those who wish to in the future will be interested in David Luhnow’s essay in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal entitled “The Two Latin Americas.” As Luhnow says, “There are two Latin Americas right now. The first is a bloc of countries—including Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela—that faces the Atlantic Ocean, mistrusts globalization and…

Going “GREEN” in Stores

There is hardly a single home or business publication that one picks up today that doesn’t have an article or two about “greening and sustainability”. Those two words are ubiquitous: seen, heard and talked about everywhere. More American U.S. consumers are looking for “green” products and green products sold in green environments. For store designers, the goal is to create and…

IHA Innovation Awards: Sensor Mirror Illuminates and Interacts

by Vicki Matranga Design Programs + Services The 2014 International Home + Housewares Show will feature the winners of the 3rd annual IHA Innovation Awards. From thousands of new products on view at the Show, 13 products are named the Best in their categories. Products selected as winners can be entered by large companies or startups. The innovation and design is what…

IHA Innovation Awards: A New Concept in Cookware

MILENORTH HOTEL – A Stylish, Contemporary Hotel with an Upscale Residential Vibe

MileNorth (formerly Affinia Chicago) is located in the heart of the Magnificent Mile. Situated between Michigan Avenue and Lakeshore Drive, this hotel is just steps away from renowned shops, restaurants and attractions. MileNorth features oversized guestrooms, starting at a recently reduced rate of $129 a night for International Home + Housewares Show attendees. Guest rooms…

Discovering Design: Finum

By Vicki Matranga Design Programs + Services Get to know the people behind the stylish products that will appear at the 2014 International Home + Housewares Show in Discover Design. We’ll be posting conversations with exhibitors to give you a glimpse of the inspirations, influences and ideas that go into creating the exciting products that you’ll see in March at McCormick…

HECNA Global Forum: Rethinking the 4 P’s

In today’s business-to-business environment, sticking to the traditional four P’s of marketing – product, place, price and promotion- has fostered narrow, product-focused strategies. Those strategies lead marketing and sales teams to stress product attributes that are no longer differentiators but are now simply the cost of market entry. Richard Ettenson, using insights from…

HECNA Global Forum – Save the Date!

HECNA Global Forum – Save the Date! The 2014 HECNA Global Forum will take place in Chicago on June 17 – 18 at the InterContinental Hotel near O’Hare. The HECNA Board of Directors determined the timing and location to make attending next year’s event as easy as possible. A tentative schedule of activities follows: Tuesday, June 17 9:00-9:45 HECNA/Export 101…