IHA Staff, Author at International Housewares Association

gia – Celebration of Retail Excellence and Innovation

Every March in Chicago, the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) are hosted by the International Housewares Association. The gia awards, “the Oscars® of the housewares industry”, bring together the world’s most innovative retailers, all having been voted as the best in their country. The IHA Global Innovation Awards program was created to celebrate excellence and innovation in…

Stats: How Housewares Fare in Home Trends

You know what is selling in your store, but do you know how home products are faring overall? Those smart folks at The NPD Group tallied up their data for last year and the results give a snapshot of the U.S. housewares economy. Here’s a look at what happened around the home in 2016. In the kitchen: Coffee/espresso is the biggest kitchen appliance category with…

Sweetly Connected

by Michelle Hespe We catch up with Paul Lowe, otherwise known as “Sweet Paul” to talk about how he injects emotion into his website, magazine, blog and online retail business. Many people have the dream of doing what they love as a living, but Paul Lowe – aka Sweet Paul – literally takes the cake. Sweet Paul has made a living off the things he loves — cooking, baking…

Trends: Brick and Mortar Stands Up to Online

While a vast majority of Americans are now online shoppers, a new survey finds that those same customers also seek out brick-and-mortar stores. According to the survey from the Pew Research Center, some 8-in-10 Americans shop online, compared to a similar study done in June 2000 when just 22 percent of Americans had made a purchase online. Still, the study found that…

Reinventing Retail in the Era of Connected Devices

When it comes to selling connected devices, retailers have a tough job. Smart products are often complex, can require more up-front education and suffer from higher return rates than their more traditional brethren. As a result, efforts by some retailers to expand into the consumer Internet of Things (IoT) and smart home ended in disappointment. Office retailer Staples, who…

Brothers in Design

by Michelle Hespe Michelle Hespe speaks to Richard Joseph, one of the brothers behind the Joseph Joseph brand, which beautifully fuses form, functionality and fun. In 2003, twin brothers Richard and Antony Joseph launched their now hugely popular design brand, Joseph Joseph. Today, they have 125 employees and offices in the U.K., U.S., Japan, France and Germany. Both…

Retail Profile: Thyme in the Kitchen

Thyme in the Kitchen may be tucked into a historic, Westside neighborhood in Evansville, Ind., but the store pulls in visitors from all over, many of whom are on their way to cities like Nashville some two hours away. The reason? Eye-catching billboards posted along major highways around Evansville, which though a lovely place, is not typically thought of as a destination…

Export 101: Understanding Supply Chains

Your supply chain is an integral part of the international sales process as it impacts both the cost of the item and the time it takes to deliver a product. Although there are several variations, this article will discuss four primary supply chain alternatives: Domestic Warehouse, China-based Warehouse, Direct Import and Foreign Warehouse. For illustrative purposes, let’s…

July Currency Outlook

In their July 2017 Currency Outlook report, Tempus, an exchange rate and global payments company, provides a detailed report including the following topics and sections: In Brief US economic growth outlook downgraded by International Monetary Fund Italy’s election reform failed to pass Prices of WTI Crude sink to 7-month low after North American oil rig…