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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.

California Releases New Prop 65 Warning Regulations

After considering them for more than a year, California’s Office of Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has finally issued new “Safe Harbor” warning regulations for Proposition 65. The new regulations intend to provide consumers “more specificity” about the chemical content of products sold in California. They take effect on August 30, 2018 and are set forth in California Health…

Global Retail Intelligence – November 2016

To follow is a brief review of retail news from around the world: November 1 - Australian Dollar Growth Bloomberg says that the performance of the Australian dollar may be a positive indicator for the global economy. The currency is the top performer in developed markets since mid-year, and Australia’s ties to China and commodities makes it an economic barometer. The…

Trends: Grinding The Beans

Millennials are at the center of the niche of those who brew craft coffee at home. That’s according to the new Craft Coffee Report from Port Washington, N.Y.-based NPD Group, and it is great news for retailers who stock those sort of specialty items and who also on the lookout for ways to attract millennial customers. Craft coffee brewing is not your grandmother’s…

MOL, NKY and K-line to Merge

The International Housewares Shippers Association has been informed by MOL, NYK and K-line of their intentions to consolidate their container shipping divisions into a single operating entity. In the meantime, it is business as usual, and all three companies will continue to operate and serve their customers as they do today on an ongoing basis. Some key points of the…

Space is Tight, Are Your Protected?

Container ships sailing from China to the U.S. have remained full since Hanjin unexpectedly filed for bankruptcy at the end of August. Specific areas, such as Ningbo and Shanghai, are providing far greater challenges for shippers to secure space than the Southern China region. Ocean carriers have been actively rolling cargo from Shanghai and Ningbo for over a month. Some…

Retail Profile: Now You’re Cooking

Retailer: Now You’re Cooking Owners: Jerry Martins, Barbara Lynn Location: Ithaca, N.Y. Founded: 1986 Square footage: 1,500 net sq ft When is a kitchen sieve not a kitchen sieve? When it an aphid separator, says Jerry Martins, who should know. As one of the owners of Now You’re Cooking, in the college town of Ithaca, N.Y., Martins and his business partner Barbara Lynn count…

Global Retail Intelligence – October 2016

To follow is a brief review of retail news from around the world: October 1 – D Mart, India The Business Standard (Mumbai) reports that India supermarket operator, D Mart “is looking to add over 60 per cent more space in the next three years. The chain, the third largest retailer after Future Group and Reliance Retail, has 3.4 million square feet of retail space now and is…

Forecasting Currency Fluctuations in Uncertain Times

In their October 2016 Currency Outlook report, Tempus, an exchange rate and global payments company, indicates that the globe is going through a period of readjustment as markets find direction in the midst of downside risks to overall economic growth and limits to the scope of intervention by central banks. The two-page report reviews recent currency changes and previews…

2016 CHESS: The Future of Omnichannel Fulfillment

Rick Blasgen is responsible for the overall business operations and strategic planning for CSCMP, an organization whose mission is to deliver leading-edge education and research for the supply chain management profession. He was recently designated Chair of the Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Blasgen is a member of…