ROSEMONT, IL (April 23, 2020) – The Inspired Home Show and the International Housewares Association (IHA), the global sponsors and organizers of the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) program, announced the 2020 gia Global Honorees for Retail Excellence during a live-streamed presentation earlier today. The Global Honorees are:
- Argentina – Reina Batata Bazar Boutique
- Australia – Few and Far
- Japan – Isetan Shinjuku
- Thailand – Central Department Store
- Ukraine – PROMENU by MIRS Corporation
- United Arab Emirates – Tavola
In addition, the Martin M. Pegler Award for Excellence in Visual Merchandising was awarded to Sibler AG of Switzerland and the gia Digital Commerce Award for Excellence in Online Retailing was awarded to In&Out Cooking of Portugal.
“Congratulations to all of these outstanding retailers. Our expert jury thought this was such an exceptional year for entries they recognized six Global Honorees,” said Derek Miller, IHA president. “All of our national winners provide great examples of best-in-class housewares merchandising.”
The global gia jury, consisting of four retail/visual merchandising experts and seven editors and publishers of co-sponsoring housewares trade publications from around the world, selected the gia Global Honorees from the winners previously chosen in their respective countries by the national gia sponsors. Because The Inspired Home Show was canceled this year due to Covid-19, the global gia jury selected the gia Global Honorees during an online meeting in late March.
The gia program was created by IHA and The Inspired Home Show (formerly the International Home + Housewares Show) to foster innovation and excellence in home and housewares retailing throughout the world. Since the launch of gia in 2000, there have been over 460 gia retail award winners, from 48 countries on six continents.
The competition is structured on a two-tier level, national and global, evaluating retailers within the following categories:
- Overall mission statement, vision and strategy
- Store design and layout
- Visual merchandising, displays and window displays
- Marketing, advertising and promotions
- Customer service and staff training
- Innovation
Co-sponsoring the country-specific gia award programs with IHA are housewares trade publications worldwide, which sponsor national gia programs in their respective countries. This year, 32 national gia winners from 31 countries were selected by co-sponsoring trade publications with targeted distribution in over 50 countries on five continents. All winners were automatically entered in the global competition for The Inspired Home Show in Chicago.
Both gia national winners and Global Honorees are recognized in a gallery on TheInspiredHomeShow.com/Explore/Awards/gia-Excellence-in-Retailing. Because the gia dinner was not held this year, the 2019-2020 national winners and Global Honorees will be honored at the gia awards dinner held during The Inspired Home Show 2021 next year.
For more information about the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) program, the co-sponsors, or participating in 2020-2021, contact Piritta Törrö at piritta.torro@inspiredconnection.fi. Additional information on the gia program is also available online at TheInspiredHomeShow.com/Explore/Awards/gia-Excellence-in-Retailing.
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Editor’s note: Images of the 2019-2020 national gia winner stores are available for
download at www.housewares.smugmug.com/Gia/2020-gia-press-photos
The International Housewares Association is the 82-year-old voice of the housewares industry, which accounted for (US)$394.3 billion at retail worldwide in 2018. The not-for-profit, full-service association sponsors the world’s premier exposition of products for the home, The Inspired Home Show, IHA’s Global Home + Housewares Market (TheInspiredHomeShow.com), and offers its 1,400 member companies a wide range of services, including industry and government advocacy, export assistance, industry and consumer trends through the IHA Market Watch, executive management peer groups, a B2B community at www.housewares.org, group buying discounts on business solutions services and direct-to-consumer engagement through TheInspiredHome.com.
