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!

Retail Profile: Now You’re Cooking

Retailer: Now You’re Cooking Owners: Jerry Martins, Barbara Lynn Location: Ithaca, N.Y. Founded: 1986 Square footage: 1,500 net sq ft When is a kitchen sieve not a kitchen sieve? When it an aphid separator, says Jerry Martins, who should know. As one of the owners of Now You’re Cooking, in the college town of Ithaca, N.Y., Martins and his business partner Barbara Lynn count…

CHESS 2016 Highlights – Keynote Day 1: Where Is Our Country Headed?

Vicki Matranga, Design Programs Coordinator In this tumultuous election year, many people in the U.S. and abroad and asking that very same question. Political analyst and commentator Charlie Cook provided some answers to the CHESS audience. He also offered his perspective on the national political scene, for the coming month is sure to bring surprises and upsets with changes…

Trends: Food Gifting On the Rise

It probably doesn’t come as a huge surprise that people like to eat chocolate. Or that people enjoy food. And everyone likes to receive gifts. Put that all together and it also isn’t surprising that food gifts are increasingly popular across all occasions and food gift types. And that is good news for retailers who sell specialty food products and gift baskets. U.S. consumer…

Stats: Cooking for Generations

What’s for dinner? That depends on whom you ask. According to a generational study published by The NPD Group, the evening meal is the dining event of the day that is most sharply divided by age. Knowing what people want for dinner is a key issue for both retailers and manufacturers trying to figure out what consumers want to buy to cook that meal. Or whether they want to cook…

Retail Profile: The Kitchen Shoppe & Cooking School

Retailer: The Kitchen Shoppe & Cooking School Location: Carlisle, Pa. Founded: 1974 Owners: Sue and Dan Hoffman Square footage: 7,000 sq. feet When Sue Hoffman first opened her store, The Kitchen Shoppe, she focused on selling manual kitchen gadgets. But then engineer Carl Sontheimer introduced an appliance that became known as the Cuisinart food processor. The impact on…

Cast Iron Shows Retail Strength

A staple used by pioneers, cast iron cookware is now being embraced by millennials. Specialty retailers say the 18-to-34-year-old crowd has led to an uptick in sales of the durable cookware, from high-end to basic pieces as millennial customers, who love local artisanship as much as they love value, find the two combined in pans in the style of those their great-grandmothers…

IHA Announces Prop 65 Protection Insurance for Members

The International Housewares Association is partnering with Wells Fargo Insurance to provide a new insurance program that can help members mitigate their liability under the California Proposition (Prop) 65 legislation. The Prop 65 Protection Program provides protection from the costs associated with defending a Prop 65 lawsuit specific to plasticizers, including fines,…

Trends: Eating Where You Shop

More people are eating where they shop these days, especially Millennials, a generation prized by retailers for its size and potential consumerism. Overall, in-store dining and take-out of prepared foods from grocers has grown nearly 30 percent since 2008, accounting for 2.4 billion foodservice visits and $10 billion of consumer spending in 2015, according to a recently…

Stats: Test Your ‘Cue IQ

How well do you know grilling? The Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association has launched an online quiz to test Barbecue IQ. Those who take the quiz learn not only their “IQ,” but also get tips on how to up their barbecue game, as grilling season peaks during the summer. The online quiz can be found at www.hpba.org/Barbecue-IQ . You can prepare for the quiz by checking…