gia Retail Awards

The IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) were created with the objective of fostering innovation and excellence in housewares retailing throughout the world. The competition has national and global components. Co-sponsoring the country-specific gia awards programs with IHA are over 25 housewares trade publications, which sponsor national gia programs in their respective countries.

2018 gia Global Honoree – Pollmann sinds 1890

by Michelle Hespe The 128-year-old Dutch retail store, Pollmann sinds 1890, has always had family, personal service and cooking at its heart. Nick and Anke Pollmann, the fourth-generation owners of Pollmann sinds 1890, raised a glass to Nick’s great grandfather, Bernhard Pollmann, at the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) in Chicago this year, to celebrate the store…

2018 gia Global Honoree – Tugó

by Michelle Hespe Becoming one of five Global Honorees in the 2018 IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) in Chicago is another step along what is sure to be a long and prosperous road for Tugó — a retail store with a mantra ‘Great design is for Everyone.’ Adriana Cano, Visual Merchandising Manager from Tugó, and Christian Morales, the store’s Marketing Manager, are nothing…

2018 Gia Global Honorees for Retail Excellence Announced at International Home + Housewares Show

The International Home + Housewares Show and the International Housewares Association (IHA), the global sponsors and organizers of the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) program, today announced the 2018 gia Global Honorees for Retail Excellence. The Global Honorees are: Tugó - Colombia Manufactum - Germany Pollmann sinds 1890 - Netherlands Harrods - United…

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 Global Innovation Award Winners Celebrated at the Show

The International Home + Housewares Show and International Housewares Association (IHA), the global sponsors and organizers of the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) program, announced the national gia winners of 2017-2018 – including 27 outstanding home and housewares retailers from 26 countries around the globe. The gia program was created by the IHA and International Home…

2017 gia Global Honoree – Green with Envy

Michelle Hespe speaks to Nicole Ward, Founder and Owner of the New Zealand gia Global Honoree award winning retailer, Green with Envy. When people visit New Zealand, or meet New Zealanders, many comment that the country and the people are so warm and welcoming. That the place and its people are down-to-earth. There’s a true sense of caring and connectedness in this small…

2017 gia Global Honoree – Loft

Michelle Hespe speaks to Mr. Satoru Iimura, Executive Director of Loft — a chain of retail stores in Japan that became one of the five Global Honorees at this year’s IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) at Chicago’s International Home + Housewares Show. Loft was celebrating more than its gia win in Chicago this year. “2017 marks 30 years since the first Loft store opened in…

2017 gia Global Honoree – Rustan’s

Mr. Donnie Tantoco, President of the Philippines luxury retailer, Rustan’s, speaks to Michelle Hespe about becoming one of five Global Honorees at the 2016-2017 IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) in Chicago. It’s the second time that this leading business has been the recipient of a gia in the past decade. With passion, forward thinking and dedicated drive, in 1952, the…

2017 gia Global Honoree – Borough Kitchen

Michelle Hespe catches up with two Canadian friends who have managed to create a passionate retail-based community, Borough Kitchen, that all started within London’s Borough Market, with cooking and homewares firmly at its heart. Taking the step from being successful bankers to the owners of a happening kitchen retailer in a thousand-year-old London food market doesn’t seem…