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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.

Retail Profile: The Common Housefly

Location: Black Mountain, N.C. Owners: Michael and Marcia Liss Founded: 2005 Square footage: 1,500 sq. ft. Rent or Own: Own Michael Liss likes to joke that his store, The Common Housefly, has 3,000 square feet of product “crammed” into 1,500-square feet of space. That sort of abundance lends well to the store’s tagline “A Toy Store for Foodies.” Or as Liss describes it a…

Perfectly Porland

Porland of Turkey, one of the five gia Global Honorees this year, has a long, rich and colorful history. We look into what makes this manufacturer and retailer of porcelain stand out from the rest. by Michelle Hespe Porland’s logo features a ballerina executing a perfect pirouette. This elegant symbol conveys both beauty and strength, reflecting the grounding philosophy…

April Currency Outlook

In their April 2019 Currency Outlook report, Tempus, an exchange rate and global payments company, provides a detailed report including the following topics and sections: In Brief The Federal Reserve did not increase interest rates, however, the USD is up half of a percent The global economy is slower than the U.S. economy, hence the better performance of the USD…

Global Retail Intelligence – April

To follow is a brief review of retail news from around the world: April 23 – Walmart China Has Competitive Advantage with JD.com Alliance in Highly Competitive Market With 433 retail outlets in China, including 412 Walmart supercenters, Walmart plans to add 23 Sam’s Clubs by 2020. In 2018, Walmart and JD.com jointly invested $500 million in online-to-offline grocery…

Ocean Contract Negotiations Moving Forward

The 2019-20 ocean contract negotiations have officially begun for cargo moving from Asia to the United States. Based on the initial proposals from the ocean carriers, it is clear they are trying to capitalize on last year’s space crisis. Carriers stated earlier this year that shippers should expect to pay higher rates in the 2019-20 ocean contracts. Further, they stated that…

Stats: Experiences Drive Trends

People aren’t buying products, they are buying experiences. At least that’s the opinion of Tom Mirabile, the International Housewares Association’s trend expert, who spoke during the recent 2019 International Home + Housewares Show. Mirabile’s annual keynote, “Top Trend 2019: New Consumer Insights and How to Thrive in the Retail Revolution,” brought up a number of points about…

Housewares Charity Foundation Raises $1.8 Million at Annual Gala

The housewares industry came together to raise $1.8 million during the 2019 Housewares Cares Charity Gala presented by the Housewares Charity Foundation (HCF) on Monday, March 4. Proceeds from the event, held at Chicago’s Navy Pier, benefited the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), the HCF’s legacy charity, and the James Beard Foundation, the gala’s partner. Since the…

Trends: Making Food Safe at Home

It is great to teach cooking classes, hold demos and inspire home cooks to purchase cookware, gadgets and other fun kitchen tools, but as anyone who has worked in a serious restaurant kitchen knows, food safety is the first priority. Professionals in the food service industry learn how to best make food safe for their patrons, but how much of that gets through to consumers…

Global Retail Intelligence – March

To follow is a brief review of retail news from around the world: March 19 – India’s Reliance Retail to Open New Stores Reliance Retail plans to expand its low-cost fashion store network Reliance Trends to 2,500 locations within the next five years. From Retail News Asia March 18 – Walmart Japan Announces Seiyu Is Not For Sale Newly appointed CEO of Walmart’s Japanese…