|
IHA - International Housewares Association: The Home Authority
Web: www.housewares.org | Ph: 847-292-4200 | Fax: 847-292-4211
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Deborah A.Teschke
Manager, Media Relations & Communications
847-692-0110
IHA Announces Record Buyer Attendance at 2006 International Home & Housewares Show
ROSEMONT, ILL (March 22, 2006)--The International Housewares Association announced today that the recently concluded 2006 International Home & Housewares Show set record retailer attendance with an overall growth of nearly 5 percent. Total attendance was over 58,000. As previously announced, the Show also featured more than 2,100 exhibitors from around the world. More than 450 of those exhibitors were new to the Show.
“We are pleased to report these outstanding results,” said Phil Brandl, president of IHA, the Show’s not-for-profit owner and operator. “Exhibitors and buyers, coming off of a solid performance in 2005 and the first two months of 2006, are even more optimistic about the remainder of 2006.”
U.S. buyer attendance was up 5.2 percent across all retail channels. The Show once again saw a substantial increase in U.S. specialty retailers with more than 73 percent of the U.S. retail buyers coming from specialty channels.
Internationally, buyer attendance grew over 3 percent on top of a record growth in 2005. Buyers, recognizing the strength of the U.S. market, visited from over 100 countries, solidifying the Show as a key event in the global homegoods business.
News media attendance increased nearly 21 percent over last year. Media attendees included editors from U.S. shelter magazines and consumer business publications, domestic and international broadcast outlets and U.S. and international trade publications. International attendees came from 25 countries outside the U.S.
The 2007 International Home & Housewares Show will be held Sunday, March 11 through Tuesday, March 13 at McCormick Place in Chicago. For more information, please visit www.housewares.org.
The International Housewares Association is the 68-year-old voice of the housewares industry, which accounted for (US) $265 billion at retail worldwide in 2004. The not-for-profit, full-service association sponsors the world’s premier exposition of products for the home, the International Home & Housewares Show, and offers its 1,700 member companies a wide range of services, including industry and government advocacy, export assistance, State-of-the-Industry reports, point-of-sale and consumer panel data through Housewares MarketWatch, executive management peer groups, a unique community at www.housewares.org and group buying discounts on business services.
|