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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.

Global Retail Intelligence – November

November 17 – Moderna Rolls Out Maxi Store Format With 170 stores, located in the Campania, Basilicata, Calabria and Puglia regions of Italy, Italy’s Moderna 2020 Rolls Out Maxi Store Format in Pompei. Moderna 2020 is a leading company in the organized retail distribution sector in Southern Italy and a partner in retail consortium Gruppo VéGé. From European Supermarket…

Challenges to Sec. 301 Tariffs Make Headway in U.S. Court of International Trade

In September 2020, Americans for Free Trade (AFT), the coalition IHA participates in to fight the Sec. 301 tariffs on Chinese products imposed by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), provided a forum for a lawsuit brought by vinyl floor importer HMTX Industries in the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT). The lawsuit challenges the List 3 and List 4a China 301 tariffs as…

US Supply Chain Participants Feel Defeated

One word best describes the US supply chain: BROKEN. There is the sense among supply chain experts that it’s too late for any meaningful solutions to be implemented that will positively impact getting goods delivered to store shelves for the upcoming holiday season. If such solutions existed, they would have already been implemented. Six months ago, it was thought that…

U.S.Retail Intelligence – October

October 29 – Amazon Forecasts Modest 4th-Quarter GrowthHuge expenses ahead related to labor and supply chain challenges. From: Progressive Grocer October 29 – Popular Pet Products Private Brand Gets its Own StorePetco has unveiled a boutique dedicated to its urban-inspired store brand in NYC. From: StoreBrands Today October 29 – Independent Grocers Attain Record Sales,…

Shippers Scrambling to Meet Holiday Season Demand

The US supply chain delays have reached critical mass. The delays have reached a point where some shippers haven given up hope that their product will be available for the holiday season. This will be especially devastating to small shippers that rely heavily on holiday sales to survive. Three months ago, the big obstacle was finding space on container ships. While space is…

Global Retail Intelligence – October

October 26 – Ikea Acquires Real Estate in London With plans to open a large store on London’s Oxford Street in fall of 2023, Ikea acquired a building previously occupied by Topshop. The 22,000 square meter building was bought for GBP 378 million. From Retail Detail October 26 – Amazon India Announces New Store and Pays Cashback Ahead of the holiday season of Dhanteras,…

U.S.Retail Intelligence – September

September 30 – IHA Announces Global Honorees for gia Top Window AwardThe Inspired Home Show and the International Housewares Association (IHA), the global sponsors and organizers of the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) program announced the Global Honorees for the gia Top Window Awards during the Connect FALL “Winning Visual Clicks/gia Top Window Award” presentation by gia…

Infrastructure and “Human Infrastructure” Legislation and Taxes

On August 10, the U.S. Senate passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, H.R. 3684, by a 69-30 vote. This is the bipartisan infrastructure framework (or BIF) that would spend $1.2 trillion over ten years on what’s generally considered to be infrastructure, using a combination of $550 billion in new spending and spending offsets including repurposing $200 billion of…

Port Congestion Going from Bad to Worse

Carriers will be increasing capacity from Asia to US West Coast ports by 22 percent. The influx of the additional capacity will last through the end of the year. US East Coast ports will also see an increase in capacity through the end of the year by 14 percent. Carriers had hoped these additional measures would help shippers meet the surging demand which is expected to last…