IHA News Release

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

INDUSTRY BREAKFAST TO FEATURE FORMER SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS AND STEVE FORBES DISCUSSING AMERICA’S LONG-TERM GROWTH

Pantone’s Lee Eiseman Dishes on Color Trends; Consumer Panel IDs What’s Hot, What’s Not; Expert Defines Success in Global Retailing in Other Educational Sessions

ROSEMONT, Ill. (January 2006) – In an Industry Breakfast sure to produce some fireworks, politically polar former candidates John Edwards and Steve Forbes will offer their vision for a healthy America in the near future. Edwards, a former Democratic U.S. senator from North Carolina, was the vice-presidential candidate in 2004. Forbes, president and CEO of Forbes Inc., sought the Republican nomination for President in 1996 and 2000.

The Industry Breakfast is part of a roster of educational seminars offered during the 2006 International Home & Housewares Show, March 12-14 at McCormick Place in Chicago. Except for the Breakfast, all of the educational programs are complimentary and do not require a ticket or registration. The Breakfast will begin at 7:15 a.m. on Tuesday, March 14, in Room S100/Grand Ballroom, Level 1 of the South Building. Also featured will be Linda S. Graebner, chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Housewares Association and president and CEO of Jarden Direct, who will outline the Association’s accomplishments in 2005 and goals for 2006 and beyond.

Edwards, a personal injury lawyer who was elected to the Senate in 1998, was recently appointed to direct the new Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina. Forbes, who has overseen a publishing and business empire since 1990, is the author of the recently-published book, “Flat Tax Revolution: Using a Postcard to Abolish the IRS.”

Prior to his run with presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry in 2004, Edwards had emerged in Congress as a leading voice for government advocacy of improved health care and schools, protection of civil liberties and the environment, campaign finance reform and the preservation of Social Security and Medicare.

Forbes’ cemented his national profile in 1996, when his campaign platforms featured a flat tax, medical savings accounts, a new Social Security system, school choice, term limits and strong national defense. He continues to vigorously promote this agenda.

Tickets for the Breakfast are $300 for a table of 10 and priority seating or $25 per individual. They can be ordered from IHA’s website at www.housewares.org/ihshow/indbreakfast.asp or by calling 847-292-4200.

Color, Color Everywhere
The world would be a dull place without the panoply of color available for consumer goods; and no one knows that better than Leatrice (Lee) Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and an author of several books on the impact of color in our everyday lives.

Selected by Fortune magazine as one of America’s top eight decision-makers, Eiseman has an unparalleled track record for forecasting colors that will decorate the coming year. This year, Eiseman will focus on “Future Color Trends: Modernizing Color” in a seminar on Monday, March 13 at noon and “Color and the Aesthetics of Merchandise Presentation” on Tuesday, March 14 at noon with Joseph Weishar, a visual industry expert and president of New Vision Studios. The complimentary sessions will be held in Room S100/Grand Ballroom Level 1, South Building.

Eiseman notes that while color has always been key in the success of housewares products, its importance has intensified as consumers become more sophisticated. “Color is such a huge enticement, “ she says. “I don’t care how many potato peelers you have. If you see this cool new purple one, and purple happens to be one of your favorite colors, that’s going to draw you.” Statistically, in the last few years color has ranked anywhere from 60 percent to 75 percent in a product’s success.

In the context of the merchandising presentation, Eiseman will expand on the conventional wisdom that the visual aspects of color and finish are a powerful pull in the marketplace. In her “Visual Color 101” seminar, Eiseman will offer an overview of the most important color effects for display, those that create maximum impact in attracting and holding consumers’ attention. Weishar will then explain “The Aesthetics of Merchandise Presentation,” the subject of his new book.

Identifying color trends is not a matter of simply “throwing darts at the wall,” Eiseman says, but a complex study of trends in everything from design to technology and the economy. Even color word-association studies play a part in her prognostication every year. America’s favorite color? Still blue, Eiseman notes, for its ability to speak to consumers of loyalty, dependability and forthrightness.

HIPster Consumer Panel Points to the Haves and Have-Nots for 2006

For all the experts out there who predict what consumers will like each year, consumers themselves may be the best barometer of what will float in 2006. Members of the HomeTrend Influentials Panel (HIPsters) will enthusiastically talk about their picks at the presentation, “What’s Hot, What’s Not: The Consumer Speaks,” Monday, March 13 at 7:30 a.m. in Room S100/Grand Ballroom, Level 1, South Building.

Listening to this panel is like having your own crystal ball, since they intimately understand what consumers need and want in their homes right now. Members will discuss topics such as how they feel about their homes, what’s important related to home and family activities, housewares products they’ve purchased in the past six months and how they decide exactly what to buy and when.

The HIPsters serve as IHA’s Consumer Advisory Panel and are a subset of Riedel Marketing Group’s proprietary HIPster panel, a group of trend-setting homeowners who tend to pick up on new housewares and home goods much sooner than most consumers.

Global Retailing Trends Follow Consumer Lead
Multi-national retailers provide the majority of homegoods products to consumers around the world and are being recognized at the Show this year for their pioneering contributions to the global marketplace.

On Sunday, March 12 at 7:30 a.m. an international expert on the global consumer market will provide insight into the success of these multi-national retail operations. Matthew Stych, manager of the international retailer research program for Euromonitor International (EI), will present “Defining Success in Global Retailing: Responding to Consumer Lifestyle Changes” in Room S100/Grand Ballroom, Level 1, South Building.

Relying on data from EI’s continuous global retail market analysis, Stych will walk the audience
through the factors that have translated to success for companies that cross national borders routinely.

Also during his presentation, Stych will honor the winner of the first gia World award, which honors multi-national retail excellence in housewares and home furnishing. Candidates for the award are chosen via Euromonitor International’s global retail intelligence and strategic market analysis, which is compiled from a network of more than 600 retail analysts in 72 countries.

“gia World honors a level of retailer that makes a huge contribution to the fast-growing homegoods sector within the global retailing community,” Stych says. “We are pleased to put our research to work to determine which retailers truly stand out, and we are excited about our new partnership with IHA and the Show.”

Further information about the Industry Breakfast and the educational seminars is available at http://www.housewares.org/ihshow/events_calendar.asp.