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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: Meet Vigar

Get acquainted with the people behind Vigar and their stylish products that will appear at the 2017 International Home + Housewares Show in Discover Design. We are speaking today with Vicent Garcia, general manager of Vigar. The company, based in Spain and known for its colorful, fun and practical cleaning and kitchen tools, sells to more than 40 countries. Mr.…

Retail Profile: The Kitchen Koop

Owner: Deon Foster Location: Portsmouth, Va. Founded: 1998 What is special about The Kitchen Koop? The retailer’s customers say it is the store’s service and great selection of cookware. They come in and stay a while, enjoying the Southern hospitality. “Dropped in with my spouse after a lunch date just to look around,” writes one customer. “We spent a lovely hour or so…

Why Your Customers Bought Your Competitor’s Product

IHA speaks with Michael Liebowitz, CEO of Magnetic Mind Studio, about his upcoming presentation at the 2017 International Home + Housewares Show. The Innovation Theater will feature 21 presentations over four days covering topics ranging from new product development to the smart home. Magnetic Mind Studio, based in California near San Francisco, is a consulting agency…

IHA Working with the AAP Coalition to Provide Border Adjustment Tax Information

The International Housewares Association, representing the more than 1,700 housewares suppliers around the globe, is working with the Americans for Affordable Products (AAP), a growing coalition of more than 100 businesses and trade associations that represents millions of American jobs, to provide information on the Border Adjustment Tax or BAT. AAP is running a national…

Discovering Design: Meet Design Trifecta

Get acquainted with the people behind Design Trifecta and other companies with stylish products that will appear at the 2017 International Home + Housewares Show in Discover Design. We are speaking today with Sara Leggett, co-founder of San Francisco-based Design Trifecta, makers of the unique 360 Knife Block. Sara, where do you find inspiration when designing new…

Discovering Design: Meet Maia Ming Designs / Big Arrow Ceramics

Get acquainted with the people behind Maia Ming Designs / Big Arrow Ceramics and the other companies offering stylish products that will appear at the 2017 International Home + Housewares Show in Discover Design. Based in Barcelona, Spain, designer Maia Ming Fong returns to the International Home + Housewares Show to present her latest elegant tableware that appeal to…

Discovering Design: Meet Kela

Get acquainted with the people behind KELA and other companies offering stylish products that will appear at the 2017 International Home + Housewares Show in Discover Design. Today we are speaking with Gabriele Heib, head of international sales and Kurt Lang, co-owner and managing director of KELA. Keck & Lang GmbH was founded in 1903 and can look back on a long…

Healthy Living Begins at Home

IHA chats with Chris Bissig, Manager, Concept and Brand Development at GE Appliances in Louisville, Kentucky to get a preview of his upcoming Healthy Living Begins at Home presentation at the 2017 International Home + Housewares Show. The Innovation Theater will feature 21 presentations over four days covering topics ranging from new product development to the smart home. Chris…

Making Old New Again

Isn’t it remarkable how the past is always with us? How objects, textures and things that were part of that past still surround us, but rather than haunt, they offer a feeling of comfort, security and warmth. Not many of us live in homes or apartments with exposed walls of aged bricks, nor do we walk on floors covered with ancient timber, yet when we enter a shop or café or bar…