Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
The International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago sold out less than 10 weeks before opening day, according to the International Housewares Association (IHA), the exhibition’s owner and operator.
The four-day event, which kicks off on Saturday, March 15, will host more than 2,100 exhibitors from around the world, including 400 new companies exhibiting for the first time.
“This is the earliest the show has been sold out on exhibit space and is a sign of how important this world-class marketplace is to IHA member suppliers,” said IHA president and ceo Phil Brandl. “We look forward to bringing the industry together at the premier housewares trade event.”
Attendees will also find Savor Home, a revitalised gourmet food and specialty products category. Located between Discover Design and Tabletop in the Dine + Design Expo in the South Building, the zone is centered around a cooking theatre. Savor Home will be filled with design-inspired wine accessories, gourmet food products and home entertaining themes.
Other show highlights include the Hall of Global Innovation featuring the show’s special exhibits, including Pantone ColorWatch, Going Green; the third annual IHA Innovation Awards; the IHA Student Design Competition; the Innovation Theater with 20 presentations exploring the role of design, social media, consumer lifestyle trends and new platforms for product launches; and educational seminars led by IHA’s color expert Leatrice Eiseman and lifestyle guru Tom Mirabile; and Global Innovation Awards (gia) 2013-2014.
The IHA and International Home + Housewares Show created the gia programme in 1999 to foster innovation and excellence in home and housewares retailing throughout the world.
The competition is structured on a two-tier level, national and global. Each national gia winner is invited to the Show, where the global gia jury (consisting of four experts representing Asia, Europe and the Americas, plus a rotating group of co-sponsoring trade publication editors from around the world) will select up to five gia Global Honorees and the winner of the Martin M. Pegler Award for Excellence in Visual Merchandising.
For 2013-2014, there are 23 national gia winners this year, from 22 countries around the world including UK winner Lakeland. The multiple housewares retailer impressed the gia UK jury with its “excellent retail display, particularly its recently opened Milton Keynes store, as well as its innovative iPad magazine,” launched last year. The free app is packed with over 70 recipes, plus special features and baking step-by-steps to help customers in the kitchen.
Matthew Canwell, director of buying for the 67-strong chain, told www.HousewaresLive.net: “We are delighted to have won the gia award.” Lakeland also held the title of natonal gia winner for the UK in 2004/2005.
During the Show, the winners are honored at a festive awards dinner, where the gia Global Honorees and the winner of the Martin M. Pegler Award for Excellence in Visual Merchandising will be announced.
