All Posts

IHA’s blog features informative posts written to keep the housewares industry educated and informed about key strategic issues and IHA member services.

IHA Encourages Member Action on Latest Proposed Tariffs

With the most recent list of proposed tariffs affecting the housewares industry, the International Housewares Association is encouraging members to contact their congressional representatives or provide comment to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on the tariffs’ effect on their business. The List 4 China 301 tariffs proposes up to a 25 percent tariff rate on…

Trends: How Much Coffee Do Consumers Drink?

Many retailers sell coffee and coffee equipment in their stores. But how much coffee do U.S. consumers drink daily? The National Coffee Association keeps tabs on such data. Here is the association’s recent look at coffee drinking trends in the United States: U.S. coffee drinkers consume about 3 cups a day on average. The Association reminds us that research suggests that…

Global Retail Intelligence – May

May 22 – UK’s Marks & Spencer Reshapes Strategy after Annual Profit Decline of 10% With a plan to open larger format food stores, shifting away from smaller convenience outlets and closing other outlets that also sell clothing and housewares, Marks & Spencer’s new approach shows a shift of strategy. From Bloomberg May 22 – Spar International to Expand China…

Coffee’s Retail Buzz

Americans have been waking up to coffee for a while, but now even more U.S. consumers grab at least one cup of Joe every day. According to the latest National Coffee Data Trends report from the National Coffee Association, 63 percent of American adults drink coffee daily. “Coffee is America’s most beloved beverage—and for good reason” says William Murray, NCA president…

Retail Profile: Forté Coffee

Location: St. Joseph, Mich. Founded: 2018 Co-owners: Brian and Barbara Maynard Square footage: 1,850 sq ft Brian Maynard’s love affair with coffee goes back to his childhood. That coffee passion began with the influence of his father Del, who, Maynard says, “always had a cup of coffee in his hand and would wake up in the middle of the night to…

Stats: Food Trend Influencers

If you’ve ever wondered why kombucha has become popular, you may also wonder how healthy food trends get started. Not surprisingly, a new study has found that social media plays an increasingly big role in influencing consumer decisions about the foods they eat and the brands they buy. But other factors come into play as well. According to the consumer insights platform Suzy,…

Trends: Tracking the Generations

Independent retailers are always challenged to gauge what their customers want, and with the wide range of consumer age groups out there—all with different aspirations and needs—that challenge is always changing. Researchers and marketers, too, struggle to figure this out. A couple of recent studies from two research groups shed a bit of light on the differences between the…

Sculpting a Community

Above and beyond being a retailer, S-Kultur is a cooking school, a café/bar, an experience, a community and a homey place to indulge in some of the best things in life. by Michelle Hespe German gia winner and 2019 Global Honoree S-Kultur epitomizes the approach to retailing that stores across the world are working hard to achieve in order to retain loyal customers.…

Jumbled Joy

by Michelle Hespe The owner of Australian IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) Global Honoree JUMBLED has always focused on choosing the right products to create sparks of joy in an enchanting place that has a true sense of soul and community. When it came to setting up her now thriving business JUMBLED, Pip Brett listened to some sage advice from her mother, who is also a…