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IHA’s blog features informative posts written to keep the housewares industry educated and informed about key strategic issues and IHA member services.

The French Connection

The French Global Honoree in the 2021-2022 gia awards—La Maison Pernoise—is housed in a charming stone barn in the South of France. The business was born from passion, imagination and the creative drive of a woman who knows that dreams and wishes can be turned into reality. by Michelle Hespe Old stone houses have always inspired Lau Dejente. As a young girl she would…

U.S. Retail Intelligence – March

March 31 – RH CEO Friedman Touts Big Expansion Plans After Q4 Earnings Beat Restoration Hardware CEO Gary Freidman highlighted the company’s active retail expansion and brand extension strategy after releasing fourth-quarter results that saw RH beat a Wall Street estimate on earnings but not on sales. From: HomePage News March 30 – Meijer Readies Sustainability Supplier…

New Contracts Fail to Deliver Relief to Shippers

The majority of shippers have finalized their 2022 contract negotiations covering ocean containers shipping from Asia to the United States. The traditional contract period, May 1, 2022 through April 30, 2023, will bring many of the same challenges that have plagued the shipping industry over the last two years. Record high freight rates, insufficient container allocation, and…

China Competition Legislation

Perhaps the last big initiative that has a chance to be agreed to by both chambers of Congress before the midterm election usurps the agenda is “China competition legislation.” The Senate and House have approved two separate bills per this broad theme, with the anchor provision in each being $52 billion to incentivize companies to build semiconductor manufacturing facilities…

Supply Chain and Tariff Developments

To address the ocean carrier supply chain crisis and high cost of shipping containers, IHA is part of a broad coalition of business groups working to pass the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA), which is a “Shippers Bill of Rights” to give importers and exporters much greater legal standing and the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) more tools to deal with unreasonable ocean…

West Coast Port Strike Would be Devastating

Could congestion that plagued West Coast ports in 2021 actually get worse in 2022? That all depends on whether a new contract can be finalized between the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). The current contract between the two entities expires on June 30, 2022. If a new contract is not reached, the congestion shippers…

U.S. Retail Intelligence – February

February 28 – Lowe’s Launches DIY Skill-Building Program Inspired by the digital instructor community boom and rise in immersive at-home learning, DIY-U by Lowe’s is a one-stop virtual location for how-to products workshops. From: HomePage News February 28 – Walmart Adding Exclusive Deals for “Plus” Members Walmart is offering special discounts to consumers joining its…

U.S. Retail Intelligence – January

January 31 – Walmart Enhances Interactivity in New Store Design With an emphasis on interactivity, Walmart has unveiled a new merchandising format dubbed Time Well Spent meant to keep the company’s customers shopping longer. From: HomePage News January 31 – Washington AG Hits Amazon on Price Fixing Washington State’s attorney general’s office has announced that, as a…

Will 2022 be a Repeat of 2021?

Shippers importing containers from Asia to the US have been faced with record high rate levels and severe congestion leading to supply chain disruptions for the last 18 months. Back in September, industry experts predicted the market would soften after Chinese New Year 2022. Unfortunately, those predictions are not coming true. It now appears evident that the first two…