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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.

Discovering Design: THAT! Inventions

IHA speaks with Howard Chiu, CEO and co-founder of THAT! Inventions, creator of elegant and functional kitchen and tableware products. When Howard Chiu, Jung-Ya Hsieh and Ta-Wei "Dave" Chien formed the company in 2013, they discovered that they had a common scientific approach to problem solving, based on their experience in practical research and development systems. They…

IHA Global Innovation Award Winners Celebrated at the Show

The International Home + Housewares Show and International Housewares Association (IHA), the global sponsors and organizers of the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) program, announced the national gia winners of 2017-2018 – including 27 outstanding home and housewares retailers from 26 countries around the globe. The gia program was created by the IHA and International Home…

Inspiring and Expressing Colors: Defining the Essential Trends

by Michelle Hespe Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and world-renowned color guru, speaks to Inspiration Magazine about how retailers can learn to spot emerging color trends, understand color “moods” and grasp how best to use them to their brand’s advantage. Leatrice has just released her 10th book on color — The Complete Color…

Discover Design: Meet Articulate Scotland

IHA speaks with Colin Gilchrist, co-founder of Articulate (Scotland) Ltd, creators of unique picture frames for displaying children’s dimensional art. Articulate Scotland makes its first appearance in Discover Design at the 2018 International Home + Housewares Show in Discover Design in booth N8610. Colin, tell us about how your company began. “The Articulate Gallery” is an…

Discover and Enjoy Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park

As a thank you, the Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park would like to offer the following amenities to their housewares guests: A recently reduced rate of $189 for all attendees Complimentary wireless internet in guestrooms 15% off in the hotel’s food and beverage outlets, including Columbus Tap, Millennium Room, THE BAR and In-Room Dining 15% off in…

Detention and Demurrage Charges

Shippers may finally have some recourse when it comes to detention and demurrage charges. Shippers have been complaining for years that detention and demurrage charges are being charged even when it is no fault of the shipper. For example, everyone remembers the 2014-15 West Coast congestion and the gridlocked that brought the ports to a standstill. Shippers did their part…

Tabletop Beyond Bridal

Tabletop categories are household staples, but the way in which people shop for place settings, flatware and dinnerware is changing, and independent retailers who carry tabletop are adapting as the category shifts gears. Where the bridal registry was once the holy grail of tabletop sales, now many consumers are skipping registries; even skipping buying tabletop for wedding…

Top Retail Trends for Consumer Engagement

by Michelle Hespe At the 2017 International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago, the four Expert Jurors of the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) – Wolfgang Gruschwitz, Scott Kohno, Henrik Peter Reisby Nielsen and Anne Kong – revealed the “Top Retail Trends for Consumer Engagement.” The key message from the Expert Jurors was: “Nothing is more important than engaging with…

Housewares Executives Ready to Capitalize on Investments; Positive Momentum in 2018

In many ways, the housewares business is in a better place than just one year ago, and housewares executives say they’re ready to capitalize not only on positive momentum in the U.S. economy but also the many investments and adjustments they made at their companies in 2017. “There’s obviously tremendous change going on in our marketplace,” said Brett Bradshaw, president of…