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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.

Up Your Global Game – Small Business Forum

October 23 Global Small Business Forum sponsored by Global TradeSource Ltd. with: TradeUp; Endicia; Chicago Expert Importers; The International Trade Association of Greater Chicago as well as other sponsors. 7:30 a.m. – 4:15 p.m. (Networking Reception follows) Navy Pier, Festival Hall, Rooms 328-329 600 East Grand Avenue, Chicago. Fee: $105 For information &…

Back to Basics: The Essentials of Success

To be innovative and successful in today's complex marketplace, housewares manufacturers need to focus their strategy, listen to the consumer, deliver more value, enable creativity and experience and engage consumers in new ways, IHA's lifestyle trends forecaster Tom Mirabile told attendees at the 2015 International Home + Housewares Show. “You have to ask yourself: ‘Am I…

IHA Trade Mission Explores Australian, New Zealand Markets

Housewares suppliers interested in the home and housewares markets in Australia and New Zealand can meet with key retailers and learn more about the business climate during a trade mission to Sydney and Auckland Nov. 8 to 13 sponsored by the International Housewares Association. Spots are still available in the trade mission, which is limited to 12 IHA member companies. In…

PANTONE®VIEW home + interiors 2016 Future Color/Design Trends: Innovation and Impact

In our highly competitive global marketplace, would-be consumers are continuously being wooed by evocative, imaginative and innovative uses of color and design. Staying on top of the latest color trends and forecasts in a highly visual world is vitally important to selling your products or services. Introducing the 2016 Pantone View home + interiors color palettes at the…

Inside Discover Design: Magisso

Simple and smart, Magisso home goods products reflect the attitude and atmosphere expected of Scandinavian design. Their hand tools and kitchenware reduce the complexities of daily tasks; tableware inspires harmony and calm. Legendary Finnish design infuses innovation with comfort in modern interpretations of form and function. IHA: Juhani, where do you find inspiration when…

ARC International’s Fred Dohn Elected to IHA Board Of Directors

Fred Dohn, CEO Americas, ARC International, has been elected to the board of directors of the International Housewares Association (IHA), the full-service trade association for the housewares industry. Dohn’s three-year term begins Oct. 1, 2015 and end Sept. 30, 2018. Also elected were new board officers: Chairman – Gary Seehoff, director and founder, Evriholder Products,…

From the World of Design and Fashion: Thomas Lundgren

Meet a ‘Creative Emotional Originator’ (CEO), Thomas Lundgren, who not only aims to improve people’s lives through affordable home fashion, but also passionately strives to make the world a better place. Thomas Lundgren is the founder and CEO of THE One (Total Home Experience) — a fashion-focused homewares chain in the Middle East with 21 stores across eight countries that…

CHESS 2015 Executives to Discuss Innovation’s Opportunities + Obstacles

Innovation is the lifeblood of product success and the innovation continuum is in constant motion and flux. How do successful housewares suppliers define innovation and implement it throughout all aspects of their business? Three housewares executives will explain how they manage innovation’s opportunities and obstacles during the annual “Housewares Hot-Seat” panel discussion…

The Retail Happiness Quotient

By Perry Reynolds Vice President, Global Trade Development, IHA What makes independent stores tick? Why do the small business owners on Main Street USA continue to work to stay open even as they face stiff competition from retail behemoths on-line and big-box stores lining the malls? Perhaps it is because their stores make them happy. Independent retailers like listening to…