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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.

Embracing New Fine Living

Some might assume that an ultra-modern store selling tech-based brands in a steel and stucco tunnel might lack warmth and a sense of hospitality. However, hengstyle is a haven where customers can relax, connect and immerse themselves in the finer things in life. by Michelle Hespe Taiwan’s gia-winning store – hengstyle – is devoted to “enriching life without boundaries.”…

West Coast Port Disruptions

Formal contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) begin on May 12, 2022. The ILWU represents port workers in California, Oregon and Washington. The PMA represents carriers and terminal operators at West Coast ports. The current ILWU contract is set to expire on June 30, 2022. Shippers have been…

The Ocean Shipping Reform Act goes to a House-Senate Conference

Key to untying the Gordian knot known as the supply-chain crisis is recognizing and addressing unreasonable business practices by ocean carriers. Some of these practices can likely be attributed to consolidation, and a recent report by Commissioner Carl Bentzel, Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), finds the shipping container (“containerization”) was a key factor in this…

U.S. Retail Intelligence – April

April 29 – Publix Launches Rapid Delivery in Miami Using Instacart's Carrot Warehouses Retailer is 1st grocer to use nano-fulfillment models. From: Progressive Grocer April 28 – Weis Markets Unveils $150M Cap Ex Plan Weis Markets continues to make record investments in new stores, remodels, fuel centers, IT upgrades and smaller store improvement projects. From: Progressive…

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…