IBC. International Business Council

IHA Members Visit Mexico’s Home and Housewares Market, Meet With Key Decision Makers During Trade Mission

Eleven housewares suppliers looking to enhance their international business took part in a trade mission to Mexico August 21 to 26 sponsored by the International Housewares Association. Participating were: Allied Kitchenware Company International, Gondol Plastik, Honey-Can-Do, Marcato, Maverick Housewares, Patisse Nederland, Picnic Time, Progressive International, Spectrum…

John Lewis to Tie Up with Myer in Australia

The Sydney Morning News reports that British department stores operator will bring its “successful homewares category” to a partnership with Australia retailer Myer. The News reports that “by the end of the year the first of this new ‘department store within a department store’ concept will open in Sydney's Northern Beaches Warringah Mall retail centre followed by rapid-fire…

Market Overview: Denmark, Norway and Sweden

After hearing about the largest economy in the world, 2016 Global Forum attendees learned about the smaller, differentiated markets of Scandinavia to close the conference. Linus Kolmevik is the owner of Hippie de Luxe, a distributor of high-end kitchen tools and gadgets, kitchen living and small appliances within the Nordic markets of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Hippie de Luxe…

Retail Overview: VIP.com China

On Friday morning at the IBC Global Forum, Tony Shan presented details on selling directly to the 180 million registered users of VIP.com, a Chinese online retailer. Tony is responsible for business development and merchandising for VIP.com within the Americas with offices in New York. In December 2008, VIP.com introduced its B2C online sales model to the Chinese consumer…

Retail Overview: Ace Indonesia

The second day of presentations at the IBC Global Forum continued with an overview of Ace Indonesia. Since 2014, Ms. Nana Puspa Dewi has served as the marketing director for Kawan Lama Group, the parent company of Ace Hardware Indonesia. Ms. Puspa Dewi is responsible for marketing across all business units of the Kawan Lama Group. She also manages advertising, promotions,…

Retail Overview: Corporación Lady Lee, Honduras

Day 2 of the IBC Global Forum immersed attendees into overviews from retailers in varied regions of the world. The morning began with a look at Honduran retailer Corporación Lady Lee. Since 2012, Carlos Zelaya has been the Commercial Manager of Corporación Lady Lee’s department store group, Almacenes Lady Lee. Mr. Zelaya is responsible for commercial strategy, all…

IBC Global Forum: Reaching Africa

After a multi-session deep dive into aspects of entering the mature markets of Europe, IBC Global Forum attendees were introduced to the work of a U.S. government agency charged with assisting companies in entering the emerging markets in Africa. Ambrose Thomas, a commercial assistant with the U.S. Commercial Service in Nigeria, outlined the basic demographics and agency…

IBC Global Forum: Pragmatically Approaching Western Europe

Speaker: François Boutet, CEO, START’HOM Europe In 2002, François Boutet founded START’HOMEurope, a commercial consulting agency that helps consumer goods suppliers implement their sales strategies throughout Europe. Prior to founding START’HOMEurope, Mr. Boutet worked within the consumer goods industry for Leifheit in France and Hills Industries Ltd. within Europe. With…