Education

Learn about educational events, informative webinars and special reports, designed and prepared to help members stay up-to- date on current business topics, trends and issues!

IHA Member’s Wall Street Journal Op-Ed Discusses Inequality of Postal Rates

The unfair advantage of postal rates given to products mailed from China to the U.S. versus products mailed within the United States was the focus of a Feb. 7 Op-Ed article in The Wall Street Journal by Jayme Smaldone, founder and CEO of Mighty Mug. According to Smaldone, the U.S. Postal Service rate for a 1 lb. package mailed within the U.S. is $6.30. A Chinese company…

IHA to Live Stream During 2018 International Home + Housewares Show

The International Housewares Association (IHA) has announced that select events from the 2018 International Home + Housewares Show will be live streamed on the internet. The Show will be held March 10-13 at McCormick Place in Chicago. All of the action from the Cooking Theater stage can be seen live during the Show at TheInspiredHome.com/cooking-theater-2018. See celebrity…

IHA Celebrates 80th Anniversary

Created for the purpose of providing a unified trade marketplace for the housewares industry, the International Housewares Association (IHA) celebrates 80 years of bringing manufacturers and buyers together in 2018. Since its incorporation on May 17, 1938, the Association has grown to become the voice of the housewares industry, providing opportunities and programs to assist…

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…

2018 Global Powers of Retail Report Released

In the 2018 Global Powers of Retail Report, newly produced by Deloitte as a collaboration with STORES magazine, authors explore the transformative environment that is enabling consumers to shop however, wherever, whenever and for whatever they want. This disruption of traditional business models has resulted in significant change in retail markets, while delivering rapid growth…

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…

Housewares Executives Ready to Capitalize on Investments; Positive Momentum in 2018

In many ways, the housewares business is in a better place than just one year ago, and housewares executives say they’re ready to capitalize not only on positive momentum in the U.S. economy but also the many investments and adjustments they made at their companies in 2017. “There’s obviously tremendous change going on in our marketplace,” said Brett Bradshaw, president of…

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…