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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.

Trade Publication Hotel Distribution at the 2017 Show

Six trade publications have been approved for distribution at official Show hotels during the 2017 International Home + Housewares Show. The publications are: Gourmet Insider, HFN, HomeWorld Business, Health & Beauty Executive, Housewares Executive and Kitchenware News & Housewares Review. To learn about specific advertisement details, hotels, frequency and number of…

Trends: Eating Where You Shop

More people are eating where they shop these days, especially Millennials, a generation prized by retailers for its size and potential consumerism. Overall, in-store dining and take-out of prepared foods from grocers has grown nearly 30 percent since 2008, accounting for 2.4 billion foodservice visits and $10 billion of consumer spending in 2015, according to a recently…

Stats: Test Your ‘Cue IQ

How well do you know grilling? The Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association has launched an online quiz to test Barbecue IQ. Those who take the quiz learn not only their “IQ,” but also get tips on how to up their barbecue game, as grilling season peaks during the summer. The online quiz can be found at www.hpba.org/Barbecue-IQ . You can prepare for the quiz by checking…

British Retail Sales Rose Strongly in July

The Wall Street Journal reported today that, post Brexit, “(UK) households largely shrugged off the referendum result and kept spending” with retail sales gaining 5.6% in July compared to a year earlier. For more information, please click here. …

Retail Profile: The Culinary Apple

Retailer: The Culinary Apple Location: Chelan, Wash. Founded: 1996 Owners: David and Mary Weldy Square footage: 1,600 sq. ft. in the retail space; less than 500 in the kitchen space Located in the heart of Washington State’s apple country, The Culinary Apple has taken a leaf from its surroundings with a housewares store stocked with all things apple. There are apple cookie…

Are you selling product online directly to consumers?

There seems to be an increase in the number of reported lawsuits levied by plaintiffs against IHA members alleging that the Terms and Conditions of their online ecommerce websites violate New Jersey’s arcane Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act (“TCCWNA”). These lawsuits don’t have to prove there has been a loss or damage suffered by the consumer. Your company…

Retail Alchemy

Gourmet retailers work hard to find the products their customers never knew they have always wanted. Walking trade show floors, developing relationships with vendors and manufacturer’s reps and going the distance to figure out how to get the best pricing, are part of the mix of a successful sale. But perhaps the most important element of that brew is observing what one’s own…

Stats: Ad blocking in Real Time

Here are some quick facts about the rise in the use of ad-blocking software: At least 419 million people (22% of the workforce’s 1.9 billion smartphone users) are blocking ads on the mobile web. Both mobile web and in-app ads can now be blocked. As of March 2016, an estimated 408 million people are actively using mobile ad-blocking browsers (that means a mobile…

Trends: Software blocks ads and retail dollars

Many retailers with websites find that online ads help finance those sites, but a new study finds the rise of ad-blocking software is leading to a decline in online ad revenue. The ad-blocking browsers allow users to remove online ads when they use the Internet. Ad blockers also make websites load faster by saving data, which helps explain why nearly 200 million people…