The gourmet trade is a driving force in today’s housewares industry.

IHA’s Gourmet Home is designed as a service to the gourmet trade. We hope to provide retailers, manufacturers’ representatives and suppliers with tools and information that will support the growth of the gourmet trade. We will share tips from industry veterans, spotlight retailers, offer the opportunity for communication among community members and highlight opportunities at the International Home + Housewares Show.

Please let us know what we can do to help make your business more successful.

Perry Reynolds on behalf of IHA’s Gourmet Trade Development Council

A Message from IHA Gourmet Trade Development Council to the Gourmet Retail Community
Retailers from Wal-Mart to The Well Tempered Kitchen are making sustainability a big issue. To use a well-loved cliché: A rising tide raises all boats. In this case, Wal-Mart’s focus on sustainability is likely to benefit independent retailers who are of a like mind.

Selling Green
What do environmentally sensitive kitchenware retailers want? The answer: more “green” kitchenware. Less packaging. The popularity of green products is growing. Gourmet retailers both sell and try to live by the environmental movement their customers have embraced.

Trend Watch
There’s a new marketing term for a person who uses less: “transumer.” Coined by Trendwatching, the Amsterdam-based market research firm, “transumers” are trying to reduce the amount of stuff they own by renting instead of buying.

Retail Snapshot 
Gail Montgomery, owner of The Well Tempered Kitchen, has a mission: to let her customers make an informed decision about the so-called “green” products they buy.

Idea File – Environmentally-friendly focus is no fad
According to a new RSR Research report, an environmentally friendly focus is no “fad,” but rather a good way to do business.

Heading to Chicago?
We look forward to having you back at the International Home + Housewares Show, March 14-16, 2010. Bookmark this address www.housewares.org for the latest on registration information as we get it (as well as travel & hotel bargains).