Gourmet Home

IHA Gourmet Home provides independent retailers, suppliers and manufacturers' representatives with tools and information to support the growth of the gourmet trade industry

Retail Profile: Kitchen Kneads

Location: Ogden, Utah Owners: Bruce and Carla Crane Founded: 1973 Square footage (current location): 7,600 sq. ft. The store’s motto is “Shaped by Hands, Powered by Heart” with a company mission to “inspire connections and community by spreading the joy of cooking.” Another motto could well be “All in the Family.” Kitchen Kneads is celebrating its 45th year in…

Trends: Consumers Cooking at Home

Dining in is becoming more fashionable than dining out. Both of the 800-pound gorillas of generational groups—Boomers and Millennials—have been opting to stay home and cook (or order delivery) rather than spend money at restaurants, according to a couple of studies from The NPD Group. NPD’s latest “Eating Patterns in America” report finds that consumers are making fewer…

Reason to Cheer? Depends on Where You Live

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce polled small business owners about the state of the economy during the third quarter last fall and found that most were optimistic about increasing revenue in 2018. Most also said their local economies were strong. About one-quarter of those businesses surveyed were retailers. Increased confidence in local economies and the health of small…

Le Petite Gourmet Shoppe

Location: La Grange, Texas Founded: 2006 Owner: Donella Dopslaug-Cernosek Square footage: 7,200, including 5,000 sq. ft. of retail space La Grange, Texas, is a small place with a big kitchenware store. At 7,200 sq. ft., Le Petite Gourmet Shoppe has more square feet of retail space than there are people in the town. While owner Donella Dopslaug-Cernosek says that…

Stats: Chocolate, The Perfect Gift

Even retailers who focus on mostly hard goods, stock at least some specialty chocolate. Whether merchandised as an impulse purchase at the cash register, championed through a much wider display or included as part of a gift basket, retailers know that chocolate sells, and not only on Valentine’s Day. The overall U.S. market for confectionary products boasts sales of $36…

Trends: Looking Inside America’s Kitchen

Consumers, time strapped as they are, still want to make fresh meals at home. In fact, U.S. consumers have a renewed interest in cooking freshly prepared meals, according to a recent survey by the NPD Group, which also found that those same consumers don’t want to spend more time at the stove. It is a conundrum that NPD says influences how people set up their home kitchens…

Tabletop Beyond Bridal

Tabletop categories are household staples, but the way in which people shop for place settings, flatware and dinnerware is changing, and independent retailers who carry tabletop are adapting as the category shifts gears. Where the bridal registry was once the holy grail of tabletop sales, now many consumers are skipping registries; even skipping buying tabletop for wedding…

Retail Profile: The Chopping Block

Retail Profile: The Chopping Block Owner: Shelley Young Location: Chicago Square feet: 12,000, spread over two locations (Lincoln Square and The Merchandise Mart), including six different kitchens Founded: 1997 Twenty years ago, chef Shelley Young opened a small store, more like a cottage, in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood to teach cooking classes and maybe sell…

Stats: Shopping Makes Consumers Anxious

Retail therapy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. A new survey shows that shopping, especially around the holidays, makes Americans anxious. The survey gives specialty retailers a glimpse into the minds of their customers during the busiest business time of the year, but also holds up after the tinsel and decorations are put away. Even though they enjoyed the holidays and…