Inspiration Magazine

Useful tips and resources prepared by business, industry and design experts to help retailers grow their businesses!

Chicago – Inspiration by Culture

From the bottom of the sea to the tops of the stars, Chicago culture has it all on display. The Downtown Museum Campus is home to three great attractions: the Field Museum of Natural History, the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium. For art lovers, the Art Institute of Chicago offers masterpieces from ancient to ultra-modern, and the various other cultural institutions…

Influential Housewares Trends

Changing technologies, product materials, functionality, consumer lifestyles and fashion have all played roles in determining the trends that have left an impression on housewares products. HomeWorld Business took a look to the past for newsworthy housewares trends that have affected product development across a wide spectrum. Of the 25 trends that they had identified, 10 are…

Retail Design Trends of 2015

What are the current and emerging trends in retail design and what should you watch out for to ensure that you are ahead of the game? After all, one thing will never change, to be a top retailer you have to remain top of people’s minds, and that means continually offering a refreshing and exciting retail experience that is unique and arresting. Wolfgang Gruschwitz is a man…

What Shapes the Trends for 2015?

Trend Bible is a home and interiors-dedicated forecasting agency working with leading international brands to help them understand the future of their market. They forecast future trends in the behavior of consumers in a two-five year timeframe and analyze how this will impact the home environment. The Trend Bible seasonal forecasts for the home and interior industry are…

Inside Discover Design: black + blum

Based in London, black+blum is an Anglo-Swiss design partnership who joined forces in 1998. The black+blum designs have won numerous awards, including a gia Global Honoree award for the best product design in 2011, and are sold through selected stores all over the world. IHA: Where do you find inspiration when designing new products? DB: We get inspired by everything and…

From the World of Design And Fashion – Tom Mirabile

Tom Mirabile is a lover of color, art, design and fashion, a trend forecaster and analyst, and an inspiration to many. Listening to Tom Mirabile talk about style, trends, color and retail is truly inspiring. And taking on some of his advice could set you on your way to becoming a retail success, and an inspiration to others. Mirabile is always at the forefront of what’s…

Francly Stylish

“Effortless style” is a term often bandied about in the fashion world, and it’s something that most of us would like to think we could pull off. It is about having a unique style that shines through everything you do and something that others would like to emulate. Francfranc certainly has an effortless style and edge, and a confident stride to boot – always remaining chic and…

Unearthing Your Customers’ Inner Designer

Unearthing your customers style will keep them shopping with you! If you encourage your customers to find their own style rather then telling them what to buy every time they walk in your door, then you are building a life-long relationship that is meaningful. This not only brings you satisfaction but also keeps your customers coming back! At a time when customers have…

Oasis of Style

Not many people could set up a homewares and lifestyle store in a barn, in a field “in the middle of nowhere,” and make an ongoing success of it. But inside the welcoming, stone facade of a 110-year old barn in Rusko, Finland, there is a retail store to which people from far and wide are drawn. Loviisan Aitta has been so successful that the owner Helena Aho recently opened a…