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: Shopping Small is Growing

It’s almost Shop Small Season. American Express launched Small Business Saturday in 2010 as a marketing effort to boost both its business and small, local retailers at a time when the industry was in recession. The idea was to give those retailers support, after the Black Friday mass market retail rush, by promoting the Saturday after Thanksgiving as a time for more leisurely…

Trends: Home Cooking Raises Cookbook Sales

Even though everyone scrolls through internet sites in search of recipes, cookbooks aren’t going away. In fact, retailers who sell cookbooks will be happy to know that cookbook sales are rising at a good clip. According to The NPD Group cookbook sales grew 21 percent in the first half 2018 compared to the same period for the previous year. The reason for that is also…

Blogging the Way to Sales

Goodbye newspaper ads. For many retailers blogging has become the new way to reach consumers. And for good reason. Companies who blog receive 97 percent more links to their websites, according to Hubspot. Blogs have also been rated as the fifth most trusted source for accurate information and (with quality content) help extend a store’s brand with a personal touch. Here are…

Retail Profile: Now You’re Cooking

Retailer: Now You're Cooking Location: Bath, Maine Founded: 2000 Owners: Mike and Betsy Fear Square footage: 3,000 sq ft Rent or own: Rent When Mike and Betsy Fear first started thinking about opening a kitchenware store in this historic coastal Maine city, they sat down with the late kitchenware guru Bob Coviello, the founder of the H.T.I. Buying Group, at Coviello’s…

Low Chinese Shipping Rates Severely Undercut American Businesses

An international postal agreement has been tipping the scales in favor of Chinese merchants for decades, allowing the e-commerce market to continue to become the domain of the Chinese at the expense of U.S. companies and taxpayers. The USPS is part of an arcane arrangement with the Universal Postal Union (UPU), which is the postal arm of the United Nations. This arrangement…

Stats: Generation Z Gears Up

How does Generation Z stack up as future consumers? According to a recent Mintel report, Generation Z (ages 12-22) is likely to be health conscious, interested in cooking and craving international cuisine. You can thank their parents. Traits of this lifestyle group include: Influenced by parents who are “on the lookout for sugar”— 25 percent of teens aged 15-17 say they…

President Trump Issues Memorandum Ordering Level Playing Field for Terminal Dues Charges

On August 23, President Donald Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum addressing the issue of terminal dues, recognizing the damage they are doing to American business, offering a policy for reform and timeline for progress and recommendations if sufficient progress is not made by the deadline, including the possibility of self-declared rates. Terminal dues are below-cost…

Trends: Generation Z Becoming Creative Cooks

Just when you thought you had figured out what Millennials want, comes Generation Z. This future generation of housewares shoppers, ages 12-22, is diverse and tech-savvy according to a newly released survey from Mintel, and is likely to “impact the future of the food and drink industry” by increasing the reach of international cuisine, eating healthy and raising the bar for…

Proposed Tariffs To Have Greater Impact On Housewares Industry

The list of tariffs affecting the housewares industry will have a greater impact on home and housewares products with the proposed tariff rate recently increased to 25 percent from the original 10 percent announced by the United States Trade Representative (USTR). The list includes more than 6,000 tariff subheadings, affecting $200 billion of goods imported from China. “The…