Global Innovation Awards

Global Retail Stars of 2015

The IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) is the brainchild of the International Housewares Association, and having launched in 2000, it is now in its 15th year. The annual awards are considered the Oscars® of the retail world, attracting entries from across the globe. This year, 25 national 2015 gia winners from 24 countries were chosen to represent their countries in Chicago,…

Introducing the 2015 gia Global Honorees

In Chicago last March, five stores from around the world were voted as the most innovative, outstanding retailers on the planet and mentioned as 2015 gia Global Honorees. We check out what makes them so unique and outstanding. The top five stores declared gia Global Honorees in 2015 were: Koskela from Australia, Presentes Rodriquez from Brazil, Hudson’s Bay from Canada,…

gia Global Innovation Awards 2014 – Retailers on Top of the World

Every year, the International Housewares Association (IHA) welcomes retailers deemed the best in their home country to Chicago, where they compete on a global stage in the IHA Global Innovation Awards 2014 (gia) program. This year, there were 23 national gia winners from 22 countries, all representing the very top of home and housewares retailing. The gia Global Innovation…

Parisian Chic: Merci

Michelle Hespe speaks to Jean-Luc Colonna d’Istria, Executive Vice President of Merci in Paris. The impressive retail store was one of six Global Honorees at the 2014 gia Global Innovation Awards in Chicago, held during the International Home + Housewares Show. Since 2009, fashion, design and food lovers have been drawn to a store that has smoothly forged ahead in an area of…

Homewares Retail, Italian Style: Galleria Fiaba

Michelle Hespe checks out one of Italy’s finest retail stores — Galleria Fiaba — which was one of six Global Honorees at the 2014 gia Global Innovation Awards held in Chicago. The spectacular façade and the name of Galleria Fiaba, which is situated in the historical center of Vittoria, Sicily, reflects the overall store’s approach to retail: to be like a gallery showcasing…

A Milestone Win: Lakeland

Michelle Hespe catches up with Matthew Canwell, Director of Buying for Lakeland in the United Kingdom – one of six 2014 Global Honorees at the gia Global Innovation Awards in Chicago. It all began back in 1964, in a humble garage in the United Kingdom. In that garage, a family started selling plastic freezer bags, and the demand for the bags gradually grew. By the 70’s, the…

Cooking Up a Dream: Kookwinkel Bianca Bonte

Michelle Hespe catches up with Bianca Bonte, the managing director and founder of Kookwinkel Bianca Bonte, and discovers a charmingly rustic, modern cookware store in the Netherlands that pays homage to its surroundings. At the 2014 Global Innovation Awards (gia) held in Chicago in March, Kookwinkel Bianca Bonte, a store lovingly run by Bianca Bonte in the city of Oostburg…

Aussie Nomads: TheSuperCool

Michelle Hespe catches up with the dynamic Australian duo behind TheSuperCool – a pop-up store that is growing some roots – in cyberspace and soon on the ground. It was one of six retail stores from around the world to become a Global Honoree at the 2014 gia Global Innovation Awards in Chicago. The reputation of the husband-and-wife team, Kate Vandermeer and David Nunez (aka…

From Little Things, Big Things Grow: Kastner & Öhler

Michelle Hespe speaks to the team behind Kastner & Öhler, one of the six impressive gia Global Honorees from the 2014 Global Innovation Awards held in Chicago. Kastner & Öhler (K & Ö) has an incredibly rich history behind their exceptionally modern 40,000 square-meter department store. The store willalso always hold a special place in retail history, being…