IHA News Release

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

SPECIAL EXHIBITS FOCUS ON FOOD & COOKING, DESIGN, NEW PRODUCTS AND INVENTORS

Renown Chefs, Cookbook Authors, Top Designers, Hot New Products Add Value

ROSEMONT, Ill. (January 2006) – Gourmet foods and cooking demonstrations, a focus on design and the latest in new products are highlighted in several special exhibits that will add value to an attendee’s visit to the 2006 International Home & Housewares Show, March 12-14 at McCormick Place in Chicago.

The special exhibits include the GOHO Cooking Theater, Cook Book Nook, Design ALIVE, The Designed Table, Design Defined, the New Product Showcases and the Inventors Corner.

Chefs in Action
Gourmet specialty food is the emphasis in the Gourmet Home & Food District (GOHO), an exhibition of exquisite edibles and the tools needed to prepare it, located in the Dine & Design Expo in the South Building. At the heart of GOHO is The GOHO District, expanded in size for 2006, and includes the Cooking Theater, featuring demonstrations by internationally known chefs; The Cook Book Nook, a bookstore-style destination giving visitors the chance to review dozens of new titles and meet the authors; and the NASFT Specialty Food Marketplace, offering food tastings from members of the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade.

The lineup of chefs in the Cooking Theater will include Mario Batali, Alton Brown, Rocco DiSpirito, Ming Tsai, Todd English, Jimmy Bannos, Steven Raichlain, and Tyler Florence. The Theater is sponsored by Wilton Industries, KitchenAid and All-Clad Metalcrafters.

Design Takes Center Stage
Design is gaining a higher profile in the housewares industry and several special exhibits will underscore that importance. Designers will take the stage, literally, in Design ALIVE, a TV studio on the Show floor near the Home Décor category in the South Building. Breakthrough design concepts will find their voice as professional designers and cutting-edge retailers share their insights on the growing importance of design. Designer interviews will take place at various times and be replayed on a video monitor at the exhibit.

Teams of design professionals and design students will scour the Clean, Contain & Outdoor Domain Expo and Home Décor category in search of products they believe represent Design Defined. The Design Defined honorees of 2005 will be featured in a display in the Grand Concourse Lobby in the North Building and the 2006 honorees will be announced the afternoon of Monday, March 13. This exhibit also includes the popular “Designers Speak!” video, in which 30 of the industry’s foremost designers share their beliefs about the significance of design.

How do you set a table? Students from four competing universities will be assembling breath-taking tablescapes using products from Show exhibitors for the exhibit, The Designed Table. Participating colleges are: Harrington College of Design, Chicago; International Academy of Design & Technology, Chicago; Harper College, Palatine, Ill.; and Illinois Institute of Art, Chicago. Show attendees can watch the students in action on Sunday morning, March 12 at the exhibit, which is located in the Dine & Design Expo in the South Building.

Hot Products Under One ‘Roof’ in Popular Showcase
A good way to get a feel for the hottest products in each of four huge expos without getting blisters is through the New Product Showcase. These high-demand, new products are showcased inside the Buyers’ Clubs in the North and South Buildings and Lakeside Center.

Absolute, must-sees for all Show buyers and visitors, these showcases feature some amazing, never-before-seen products that defy the imagination and delight the mind’s eye.

“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 this ilk, so to speak.”

Inventor’s Corner
Ever wonder how creative minds go about solving the challenges that consumers face every day around the home? Of course, you have. But how often can you get up close and personal with one of those amazing minds? The Inventor’s Corner in the South Building, near booth #S2669, will show you how modern-day Thomas Edisons see the future of home goods and design products to fit that picture.

Every day during the Show, inventors and their recent creations will be available for questions, conversation and creative give-and-take. The exhibit is sponsored by INPEX, managers of the largest inventor’s exposition in North America.

Come and see what’s coming into the world – and your home - next!
Further information about the special exhibits at the Show is available at http://www.housewares.org/ihshow/displays.asp.