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!

Stats: Caffeine Habit Begins Early

Coffee consumption in the United States continues to rise, especially among millennials. And the caffeine habit is starting up at a younger age. Folks between the ages of 18 and 24, have caffeinated the demand for, well, caffeine. And that is having an impact on the world coffee market. According to a report from The Bloomberg Commodity Index, coffee prices have the…

Healthy Eating Heats Up

Americans are always talking (but not acting) about eating better, but signs from small retailers indicate that more and more people are taking healthy eating to heart by stocking up on kitchen tools that make it easier to cook a bit lighter. By far the hottest product, retailers say, are the plethora of spiralizers: tools that shred such veggies as zucchini into pasta-like…

Webinars Assist Exhibitors With Marketing & Boothmanship

To help exhibitors make the most of their trade show investment, the International Housewares Association is presenting a series of educational webinars focusing on marketing services, booth design and etiquette advice for the 2017 International Home + Housewares Show. In “Bring More Buyers and Media to Your Booth in 2017,” IHA staff walks through the Exhibitor Marketing…

Global Experts to Discuss International Lifestyle Trends at the 2017 Show

From homewares and small appliances to home interiors and retail merchandising, international lifestyle trends will be the focus of several presentations in the Innovation Theater at the 2017 International Home + Housewares Show. The 2017 Show will be held March 18 to 21 at Chicago’s McCormick Place complex. More than 20 sessions will be offered in the Innovation Theater…

Coffee Perks Up Sales

Retailers say that coffee-making products are helping to caffeinate their top lines as more consumers attempt to make their special brew at home. And in a reverse move from Nobel laureate Bob Dylan going electric at the Newport Jazz Festival, consumers and retailers are unplugging their machines. Sales of pour-over cones, borosilicate glass containers, vacuum brewers, burr…

Export 101: Understanding Exchange Rates

When conducting international business, it is important to take historical, current and forecasted exchange rates into account. It’s also very important to determine the specific currency in which a transaction will be priced. This decision will determine potential risks and rewards as exchange rates fluctuate. As an example, US Company A sells their Product for US$1,…

Stats: Craft Coffee Brewing Heads Home

Millennials are at the center of the niche for craft brewing at home, according to The NPD Group. A recent report from NPD doesn’t specify whether millennials are brewing coffee in their own homes or in their parents’ basements, but the important thing for specialty retailers is that craft brewing is making it out of the coffee shop and into a home kitchen. Some key…

California Releases New Prop 65 Warning Regulations

After considering them for more than a year, California’s Office of Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has finally issued new “Safe Harbor” warning regulations for Proposition 65. The new regulations intend to provide consumers “more specificity” about the chemical content of products sold in California. They take effect on August 30, 2018 and are set forth in California Health…

Trends: Grinding The Beans

Millennials are at the center of the niche of those who brew craft coffee at home. That’s according to the new Craft Coffee Report from Port Washington, N.Y.-based NPD Group, and it is great news for retailers who stock those sort of specialty items and who also on the lookout for ways to attract millennial customers. Craft coffee brewing is not your grandmother’s…