IHA News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Deborah A.Teschke
Manager, Media Relations & Communications
847-692-0110

Special Exhibits And Events Each Offer A Story That Begs To Be Told

Renown Chefs, Innovative Cooking, Hot Products, Housewares Inventors, Buyer’s Party, International Reception, Charity Event are Featured

ROSEMONT, Ill (January 2007) – Gourmet foods and cooking demonstrations by the best chefs in America, dozens of dazzling new products about to hit the market and earnest inventors with unique ideas. Special exhibits and events at the International Home & Housewares Show bring something new every year that most consumers can’t even imagine. While the Show’s core will always be aisles and aisles of housewares products, these themed areas of the floor attract an audience like a flame attracts a moth.

This year they include the GOHO Cooking Theater, New Product Showcases, Inventors Corner, the Show’s Official Sunday Night Party for buyers, an International Reception and the 10th annual Housewares Charity Foundation Gala Evening.
 
GOHO For All Things Food

The innovative Gourmet Home & Food District (GOHO), located in the Dine & Design Expo in the South Building, gets bigger and better every year for good reason. It’s the place to find the latest in gourmet food and products as well as watch celebrity chefs whip up their favorite dishes. The GOHO Cooking Theater features a non-stop parade of great chefs in a full kitchen setting. Their demonstrations encompass every kind of food and ingredient. From Sunday, March 11 through Tuesday, March 13, the chefs include Jesse Ziff Cool, Jason Paskewitz, Rocco DiSpirito, Todd English, Ted Allen, Paula Deen, Susan Zimmer, Rick Bayless, Ming Tsai, Tyler Florence, Ruta Kahate, Nirmala Narine, Gaetano Di Benedetto and Steve Rocco.

While the chefs do their cooking thing, visitors to GOHO can also stroll among the offerings of 130 gourmet and specialty food exhibitors. This lively space features many tastings, passionate conversation and impromptu meetings. Once again, the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) will sponsor the Specialty Food Marketplace with tasting booths from their members.

Products Too Hot to Touch

If you want a feel for some the hottest products at the Show without walking all 13 miles of aisles, visit the New Product Showcases located in each building. The products are displayed behind glass inside the Buyer’s Clubs in the North and South Buildings and the Lakeside Center. These displays are must-sees, especially for new products that are being unveiled for the first time anywhere.

“The showcases provide a highly concentrated blast of innovation that exemplifies the incredible range and diversity of creative products on hand at the Show,” says Phil Brandl, president of the International Housewares Association, which owns and operates the Show. “In one fell-swoop, a visitor can take stock of one Expo and be inspired to head out and find other products of interest.”

Inventors Corner the Market

If you’ve wondered how people come up with ideas and products the rest of us never imagined, the Inventors Corner is the place to be. One visit and you’ll learn how the most creative minds around solve problems that consumers face each day, while contemplating the future of home goods. Is there a Thomas Edison in the crowd? A Horatio Alger story? Could be.
 
               Located in the Dine & Design Expo in the South Building, the Inventors Corner features recent product creations and the people behind them. Their stories alone are captivating; for example, one participant last year, Spiderlegs Tables, is now exhibiting in his own booth in the Show. The Inventors Corner is sponsored by INPEX, managers of the largest inventors’ exposition in North America.

You Want to Party?

On Sunday, March 11, the Show will offer a special salute in honor of the hard working buyers who attend from all over the world in search of housewares for eager consumers.

Stop by the Official Sunday Night Party, a networking reception in the Grand Concourse Lobby, for free refreshments and libations. You will find this gathering of buyers particularly informative; find out what this important group likes on the Show floor this year.

With special acknowledgment of the Show’s growing specialty and independent retailer presence, this event will allow time for relaxation after a long day on the floor.

Classical guitarist Esteban will perform in the Grand Concourse on Sunday from noon-1 p.m.  and from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The party starts at 5:30 p.m. immediately following the close of the Show.

International Reception

The Housewares Export Council (HECNA) sponsors this lavish, playful event every year to make all international attendees feel at home. Interested in what attendees from other parts of the world see at the Show? This is the place to be for one night only.

International guests are encouraged to continue their important networking off the Show floor with HECNA members, participate in interactive games and delight in the alluring performance artists, “Be the Groove.”  Monday, March 12 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Vista Ballroom (Room S406a), Level 4, South Building.

Housewares Charity Foundation

With all the buying and selling going on over three hectic days, the Show always takes a break for the non-profit Housewares Charity Foundation (HCF) Gala Evening.
The Foundation, now hosting this event for the 10th year, raises funds for critical causes, unites the industry and honors its leaders. This year, the proceeds benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), the HCF’s legacy charity, and St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital. Over the years, more than $11 million has been raised for critical causes, including over $4.3 million to the BCRF.

Honorees for 2007 include Howard Lester, chairman and chief executive officer of Williams-Sonoma, Inc., who will receive the Lifetime Humanitarian Award; and Jeffrey Siegel, CEO of Lifetime Brands Inc., who will receive the Humanitarian of the Year Award.
Be there for a good cause and a good time!

For more information on the special exhibits and events at the Show, please visit www.housewares.org