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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.

gia Global Innovation Awards 2014 – Retailers on Top of the World

Every year, the International Housewares Association (IHA) welcomes retailers deemed the best in their home country to Chicago, where they compete on a global stage in the IHA Global Innovation Awards 2014 (gia) program. This year, there were 23 national gia winners from 22 countries, all representing the very top of home and housewares retailing. The gia Global Innovation…

Design Stars – Winners of the 2014 gia Design Awards

Discover Design, the premier design destination at the International Home + Housewares Show, offers a collection of more than 100 companies showcasing the latest designs found in housewares. Exhibitors are based on recommendations from and approval by the retail and design community. Since 2011, exhibitors in Discover Design have been in contention for gia Global Innovation…

Introducing the 2014 gia Global Honorees

This year’s IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) awards had such a wonderful group of winners and the panel of editor judges and expert jurors found it so difficult to choose just five top retail stores from the 23 regional 2014 gia global honorees that they had to choose six instead. The six top stores declared 2014 gia Global Honorees were: TheSuperCool from Australia, K…

International Housewares Association Connects Directly with Consumers

New “Inspired Home” Initiative Targets Consumers, Aims to Motivate Their Housewares Purchasing Decisions The International Housewares Association (IHA) announced today that this fall it will launch a new consumer engagement initiative, called Inspired Home, designed to directly market its members’ housewares products to consumers. Since its beginnings in 1938, IHA has…

Surviving Tourist Season Travel

Chris McGinnis, Editor of TravelSkills.com comments on how to manage business travel in the thick of tourist season travel in this CNN Video. http://travelskills.com/2014/05/21/surviving-tourist-season-airport-chris-cnn/ Source: TravelSkills.com…

European Retail: Schwarz Group – Implications with Carrefour & Tesco

In the UK, the Guardian is quoting a new Planet Retail report as saying "the company behind the Lidl supermarket chain is set to become western Europe's biggest grocery retailer by 2018 as discounters become mainstream across the continent.": According to the story, the report predicts "that the privately owned Schwarz Group, which is controlled by a German multibillionaire…

CIT – Growth Financing Opportunities for Housewares Companies

With globalization, most companies now compete on an international basis. As brands gain acceptance, companies seek to grow their revenues by pursuing growth on two fronts – domestically and globally. The International Housewares Association has had several forums about international sales in the housewares industry. The need to ship to customers on open credit terms has…

Parisian Chic: Merci

Michelle Hespe speaks to Jean-Luc Colonna d’Istria, Executive Vice President of Merci in Paris. The impressive retail store was one of six Global Honorees at the 2014 gia Global Innovation Awards in Chicago, held during the International Home + Housewares Show. Since 2009, fashion, design and food lovers have been drawn to a store that has smoothly forged ahead in an area of…

Homewares Retail, Italian Style: Galleria Fiaba

Michelle Hespe checks out one of Italy’s finest retail stores — Galleria Fiaba — which was one of six Global Honorees at the 2014 gia Global Innovation Awards held in Chicago. The spectacular façade and the name of Galleria Fiaba, which is situated in the historical center of Vittoria, Sicily, reflects the overall store’s approach to retail: to be like a gallery showcasing…