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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.

2016 CHESS: Getting Better with Age

After a witty comical video about millennials, Maureen Azzato, chief brand officer and editor of HFN, addressed the differences between millennials, Boomers and Gen Xers for creators of new products for these groups. She pointed to demographic trends that marketers should focus on for the growth of consumers over the age of 50. Boomers have the greatest disposable income and…

2016 CHESS: Protecting Your Company in China

Attorney Scott Sanders addressed sensitive concerns faced by many CHESS attendees whose companies manufacture products in China. Housewares makers often painfully discover that their intellectual property and supply chain is at risk when working with Chinese factories. Business there has changed dramatically in the past decade and contracts have become critical. Sanders posed…

CHESS 2016: The Evolution of Retail & Industry Impact

The first day’s program set the stage with a panel of housewares executives discussing issues in managing their businesses, followed by two experts who presented CHESS attendees with big picture overviews of the U.S. political scene and global political/economic risks. Day Two offered deep dives into the competitive retail landscape, the complexities of IP protection in China,…

CHESS 2016 Highlights – Keynote Day 1: Where Is Our Country Headed?

Vicki Matranga, Design Programs Coordinator In this tumultuous election year, many people in the U.S. and abroad and asking that very same question. Political analyst and commentator Charlie Cook provided some answers to the CHESS audience. He also offered his perspective on the national political scene, for the coming month is sure to bring surprises and upsets with changes…

2016 CHESS: Global, Economic and Political Outlook

After lunch and information about the services offered by CHESS sponsor companies, Bernard Baumohl presented a thought-provoking analysis of current domestic and international economic and political conditions. Baumohl, chief global economist at The Economic Outlook Group, based in Princeton, NJ, specializes in economic analysis, forecasting and geopolitical risk assessment.…

2016 CHESS: Housewares Executives Gather in Chicago

Navigating Transitional Times… Through Political, Economic and Cultural Shifts Chief housewares executives eager to hear the latest from the front lines of the industry learned from experts who addressed IHA’s 2016 CHESS conference on October 6 and 7. The two-day conference, held at the Westin O’Hare hotel, attracts top executives at IHA-member companies who look forward to…

Hanjin Bankruptcy is a Game Changer

It was only a matter of time before the unthinkable happened in the shipping industry. On August 31, 2016, Hanjin Shipping filed for bankruptcy protection sending shockwaves through the shipping industry. Bankruptcies are not new to the shipping industry. There have been numerous bankruptcies over the last 15 years with the most notables being Cho Yang in 2001 and Hainan POS in…

Global Retail Intelligence – September 2016

To follow is a brief review of retail news from around the world: August 26 – Walmart & ASDA, UK Bloomberg offered a review of the state of supermarket retailing in the UK including a suggestion that “Walmart should cut Asda loose. The U.S. retail giant has struggled with the U.K. supermarket it bought for 6.7 billion pounds ($8.9 billion) in 1999. A sale to a private…

Trends: Food Gifting On the Rise

It probably doesn’t come as a huge surprise that people like to eat chocolate. Or that people enjoy food. And everyone likes to receive gifts. Put that all together and it also isn’t surprising that food gifts are increasingly popular across all occasions and food gift types. And that is good news for retailers who sell specialty food products and gift baskets. U.S. consumer…