CHESS—Chief Housewares Executive SuperSession
CHESS is the International Housewares Association’s (IHA) annual senior-level conference for industry leaders. This strategic education and networking event allows attendees to access high-profile industry experts directly and share information and ideas with other housewares and home goods decision-makers. Held every fall, CHESS attracts the chief officers of IHA’s most prominent member companies. The program includes keynote speakers, panel discussions, general sessions and networking opportunities—the most valuable part of the 2-day event according to past participants.
CHESS —Chief Housewares Executive SuperSession— is IHA’s annual senior-level conference for industry leaders. This strategic education and networking event allows attendees to access high-profile industry experts directly and share information and ideas with other housewares and home goods decision makers. Held every fall, CHESS attracts the chief officers of IHA’s most prominent member companies. The program includes keynote speakers, panel discussions, general sessions and networking opportunities—the most valuable part of the 2-day event according to past participants.
Prescribing Lasting Relief for Today’s Pain Points
With every challenge in business comes the potential for resourceful opportunity. The home and housewares industry is reminded often of its resilience. That resilience has been put to the test yet again amid the uncertainty of economic, technological and global disruption during a consequential election year whose outcome, one way or the other, is sure to affect policy and response that directs business strategy and practice in 2025 and beyond.
Session Details
Tuesday, September 24
Wednesday, September 25
Access Presentations
Presentations from CHESS 2024 are available for download for event attendees only.
Tuesday, September 24
9:30 A.M.
10:00 – 10:20 A.M.
Presenters: Derek Miller, President & CEO, International Housewares Association; Paul Cosaro, CEO, Picnic Time Family of Brands & Incoming Chairman, International Housewares Association
10:20 – 11:20 A.M.
This popular panel discussion kicks off CHESS each year with moderator Peter Giannetti of HomePage News sitting with industry leaders to explore how they are developing and implementing new strategies to tackle the latest market challenges and optimize the next big opportunities.
Moderator: Peter Giannetti, Editor-In-Chief, HomePage News
Panelists: Mike Hayes, Chief Customer Officer, Newell Brands; Julia Tunstall, CEO & Co-Founder, A Bar Above; Kelly Walsh, Vice President, KitchenSupply
11:30 A.M. – 12:00 P.M.
Craig Brightup and Rafe Morrissey of IHA’s Government Affairs office in Washington, D.C. will provide vital updates on regulatory and legislative developments affecting the housewares industry into 2025 and beyond.
Topics to be explored:
- Lacey Act Declarations
- PFAS Regulations (State and Federal)
- Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
- Employee Relations Regulations
Presenters: Craig Brightup, CEO, The Brightup Group; Rafe Morrissey, President, Morrissey Strategic Partners
12:00 – 12:30 P.M.
The global supply chain is in flux. Congestion, skyrocketing rates and unpredictable delays are pressuring housewares businesses. How can you navigate the storm and ensure your products reach their destinations on time and within budget?
This session will answer your questions and reveal the strategies and solutions needed to thrive in this challenging shipping environment. Craig Akers of the International Housewares Shippers Association (IHSA), will take you behind the scenes of ocean carrier volatility, shedding light on the forces driving the current situation and IHA Government Affairs Representative Craig Brightup will join the discussion to share federal initiatives aimed at addressing ocean carrier issues and provide expert guidance on navigating the complex regulatory landscape.
Presenters: Craig Akers, Executive Director, IHSA; Craig Brightup, CEO, The Brightup Group
12:30 – 2:00 P.M.
2:00 – 3:00 P.M.
With persistent inflation and other macro headwinds, retailers across all channels continue to fight for a stretched consumer budget. The impact has been felt across the industry, with increased Chapter 11 filings, ratings downgrades and weakening credit metrics. In this session, Scott Freidman and Jackie Mulligan from Pulse Ratings will take a look at the factors driving top line pressure and steps being taken by several retailers to offset a declining sales base. A review of the different retail channels will also highlight those that continue to perform well, in addition to the chains that are struggling. A recent uptick in M&A activity will also be dissected along with its potential impact not only on the retailers involved but also on the industry overall. Against this difficult operating environment, Friedman and Mulligan will also discuss some steps that can be taken within an organization to spot the early warning signs of a troubled customer and mitigate the risk.
Moderator: Scott Friedman, Chief Credit Officer, Pulse Ratings; Jackie Mulligan, Vice President, Pulse Ratings
3:00 – 4:00 P.M.
The sourcing environment in India is rapidly changing, driven by infrastructure investments, labor upskilling initiatives, technology and a stable, democratic government that is aggressively positioning India as a credible ‘China+1’ alternative. In this session, Nishant Verman, CEO of India sourcing agency Bzaar, we will examine India’s sourcing potential, challenges and opportunities for the housewares industry. Verman will present economic data and discuss policy shifts, combined with an ‘on-ground’ view of the reality of Indian manufacturing to deliver a practical and actionable view of India sourcing.
Presenter: Nishant Verman, CEO & Co-Founder, Bzaar
4:00 – 5:00 P.M.
Dollar General announced pOpshelf in October 2020 as a new concept with an on-trend and affordable mix including household, home décor, entertaining, health and beauty products. The pOpshelf network is now at more than 200 stores in 21 states. During this fireside-chat style presentation, Pooh Vichidvongsa, a veteran home merchant for Dollar General and recently named senior vice president of pOpshelf, will take CHESS attendees inside the pOpshelf inception strategy and preview future plans.
Presenter: Pooh Vichidvongsa, Senior Vice President, pOpshelf
Wednesday, September 25
7:00 A.M.
8:00 – 9:00 AM
With the 2024 presidential election taking place a little more than a month after CHESS, Craig Brightup and Rafe Morrissey of IHA’s Government Affairs Office in Washington, D.C., will examine how the outcomes of the White House and Congressional races could shape federal policy impacting the housewares business in 2025 and beyond.
Topics to be explored:
- Election Scenarios
- Tax Policy
- Regulatory Policy
- Energy Policy
- Retail Theft Policy
- Immigration Policy
- Trade Policy
Presenters: Craig Brightup, CEO, The Brightup Group; Rafe Morrissey, president, Morrissey Strategic Partners
9:00 – 10:00 A.M.
What is generative AI? How is it changing the housewares industry? How will it affect your IP strategy? What is the most underrated form of IP protection for housewares? What is counterfeiting and why you may have a claim for it? These questions and more will be answered in this presentation by leading intellectual property attorney Michael Graif on how you can protect and enforce your intellectual property effectively in the age of AI.
Speaker: Michael Graif, Partner, Brown Rudnick
10:00 – 10:30 A.M.
10:30 – 11:30 A.M.
Have you ever thought about what to do with the insights you hear from external sources? And wondered how you can get your organization to act on them? In addition to reviewing the key trends and outlook for the industry, Circana’s Joe Derochowski and Lora Morsovillo will take it level deeper to illustrate how different functions of a company can activate on these insights and leverage them throughout the year. The session will explore key business planning events with inputs into (1) corporate strategy, (2) brand strategy, (3) executing at retail and (4) tracking performance.
Moderators: Joe Derochowski, Vice President & Home Industry Advisor, Circana; Lora Morsovillo, President, Circana
11:30 – 12:30 P.M.
The pressure to invest in retail media networks is intensifying, yet the clarity on performance metrics often remains elusive. This fireside chat will explore how housewares industry leaders can leverage advanced measurement techniques to drive significant revenue growth and operational efficiencies. In this session, Aaron Conant of BWG Connect will engage in a dynamic discussion with Meghan Corroon from Clerdata, delving into the complexities of retail media networks and their impact on profitability. Discover actionable insights on leveraging off-platform retail media halo effects and implementing neutral ROI measurement strategies for informed strategic decisions and effective budget reallocations. Explore how these insights can unlock hidden profits and enable real-time adjustments, empowering C-suite executives to drive sustainable growth and maximize ROI in today’s competitive landscape.
Moderator: Aaron Conant, Co-Founder & Chief Digital Strategist, BWG Connect
Panelist: Meghan Corroon, CEO, Clerdata
12:30 P.M.
Speaker: Peter Giannetti, Editor-in-Chief, HomePage News
12:45 P.M.
2024 CHESS Sponsors
2024 Speakers
Craig Akers
Executive Director
IHSA
Craig Akers, with a deep background in logistics and technology, serves as executive director of the International Housewares Shippers Association (IHSA). In this role, he oversees all aspects of IHSA’s operations, from marketing and sales to IT and contract negotiations. Under Akers, IHSA has fostered corporate alliances, expanding its reach and cultivating strong relationships with clients and vendors. Akers leverages his extensive experience in the industry, combined with his academic background in computer science and information technology, to keep IHSA at the forefront of the ever-evolving shipping landscape. IHSA was formed to benefit IHA member companies and their freight shipping needs.
Craig Brightup
CEO
The Brightup Group
Craig Brightup, CEO of The Brightup Group LLC, a government relations consulting firm, leads the International Housewares Association’s Government Affairs office in Washington D.C. Brightup has worked for more than 20 organizations since 2009, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and he is a founding member of E Street Partners, a bipartisan consortium providing public policy services to corporations, associations and coalitions.
Previously, he was vice president, government relations, for the National Roofing Contractors Association and before that headed congressional relations for the Federal Trade Commission by appointment of President Reagan. In 2000, he was named to Fortune Small Business magazine’s POWER 30 list of “influential insiders” in Washington. He recently served as president of the Washington Industrial Roundtable.
Aaron Conant
Partner & Chair
BWGConnect
Aaron Conant is co-founder and managing director of BWG Connect, a networking and knowledge sharing group used by thousands of brands to collectively grow their digital knowledge base and collaborate on partner selection. Advising more than 500 brands each year and hosting over 250 in-person and virtual events, Conant has a real-time pulse on the newest trends, strategies and partners shaping growth in the digital space. He is the host of “The Digital Deep Dive” podcast which brings in the top digital experts from multiple industries to answer the most relevant questions in ecommerce on a weekly basis.
Meghan Corroon
Co-Founder & CEO
Clerdata
Meghan Corroon, CEO of data science software company Clerdata, is a strategic and innovative leader trained in demography with 17 years’ experience leading data science teams. She has led international teams of more than 200 and worked with clients including The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, national governments in Africa and Asia and public and privately held companies of all sizes.
Joe Derochowski
Vice President
Circana
Joe Derochowski is vice president and home industry advisor for Circana, the new market research firm formed by the merger of IRI and The NPD Group. An expert at parsing data, Derochowski has been helping product developers and retailers for more than 30 years to identify growth opportunities through innovation, marketing, sales and merchandising.
Scott Friedman
Chief Credit Officer
Pulse Ratings, Inc.
Scott Friedman joined Pulse Ratings as chief credit officer in June 2023. Prior to joining Pulse, Friedman served as the principal at Scott Friedman Consulting/Olympus Peak Consulting since 2009, providing in-depth credit analysis, financial market insight, insolvency valuation work and credit risk mitigation alternatives to clients that include some of the world’s largest consumer product companies. He also served as the head of trade claims and a member of the investment team at Olympus Peak Asset Management, a credit fund with assets under management in excess of $1.7 billion. Prior to starting his own firm, Friedman was a vice president in the Trade Claims and Vendor Finance group at Avenue Capital, a global fund with assets under management that exceeded $15 billion. Before joining Avenue Capital, Friedman was a vice president at F&D Reports.
Peter Giannetti
Editor-In-Chief
HomePage News
Peter Giannetti joined IHA in March 2021 as director, editorial, content and education. In his role with IHA, Giannetti directed the development and launch of HomePage News, the authoritative B2B news platform for the home and housewares business, and has helped create exclusive IHA research reports, including the IHA Occasions Report, HomePage News Consumer Outlook Report and the just-released HomePage News InSight Trend Index.
He has reported on the home and housewares business since 1990. Before joining IHA, Giannetti served for 14 years as editor-in-chief and 14 years before that as editor of HomeWorld Business, a leading B2B print and digital publication.
Michael Graif
Partner
Brown Rudnick
Michael Graif is an intellectual property partner at Brown Rudnick in New York City. His practice focuses on trademark and copyright protection and enforcement, design patents, online infringement, domain names, artificial intelligence and fair use. Graif has been recognized by the World Trademark Review’s WTR 1000 for 12 consecutive years as a top trademark enforcement and prosecution attorney in New York. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Carey Law School and at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he teaches a course called “Social Media Law.”
Mike Hayes
Chief Customer Officer
Newell Brands
Mike Hayes is Newell Brands’ Chief Customer Officer. He is responsible for leading the company’s customer relationships, implementing the One Newell sales model with top customers and driving end-to-end strategies with each business segments.
Prior to Newell Brands, Hayes served as the senior vice president of Sales & Sales Strategy for the North America Consumer Business at Georgia-Pacific, where he led the company’s customer management capabilities for the region. The Georgia-Pacific Consumer Business portfolio includes brands such as Angel Soft, Quilted Northern, Brawny and Dixie. Prior to joining Georgia-Pacific in 2008, Hayes spent numerous years in sales and marketing leadership roles with the Sara Lee Corporation, Information Resources, Inc., The Dial Corporation and the Small Business Association.
Hayes serves on IHA’s Board of Directors.
Rafe Morrissey
President
Morrissey Strategic Partners
Rafe Morrissey has more than 20 years of public policy experience. Before starting Morrissey Strategic Partners, LLC, he managed legislative and public policy issues on behalf of clients for EnGage, LLC, primarily in the areas of postal affairs, consumer privacy and regulatory matters. In 2012, he was promoted to vice president, public affairs for the Greeting Card Association.
Before launching MSP, Morrissey served as senior vice president, government relations, for Evans Capitol Group, a public policy firm specializing in corporate, non-profit and trade association representation. He managed a wide range of issues including labor and employment policy, tax, trade, telecommunications and Internet privacy issues.
Lora Morsovillo
President, Home Durables
Circana
As president of Circana’s Home Durables practice, Lora Morsovillo is responsible for helping client partners grow their business through actionable insights. She has been with Circana (previously The NPD Group) since 2010. Morsovillo has more than 30 years of experience in consumer research, category management and shopper insights. Before joining Circana, Morsovillo spent a majority of her career at Newell Brands, where she led category management and shopper insights for the writing division. She also worked in various research roles at Epicor, Sunbeam/Jarden and IRI.
Jackie Mulligan
Vice President
Pulse Ratings
Jackie Mulligan recently joined Pulse Ratings after a 32-year career at Procter & Gamble, where she led the credit operations teams and was responsible for global credit policy and accounts receivable strategy. Beyond her leadership at P&G, Mulligan has made significant contributions through her service on the boards of the National Food & HBC Manufacturers Credit Group, the National Consumer Products Group and the North American Retailers Credit Group. She also has served as chairperson of the Credit Research Foundation Board of Trustees. Mulligan is a sought-after expert in the credit industry, frequently providing training at group for organizations such as the Credit Research Foundation and the National Association of Credit Management.
Julia Tunstall
CEO & Co-Founder
A Bar Above
Julia Tunstall is the co-founder and CEO of A Bar Above, a leading barware company dedicated to creating high-quality tools and educational resources for home and professional bartenders. With a background in management consulting and data analytics, Tunstall has driven the company’s growth through innovative product development and strategic marketing. Tunstall has built a culture of collaboration and flexibility for A Bar Above’s remote, international team. Her focus on leveraging AI has streamlined operations, allowing them to excel with remarkable efficiency.
Nishant Verman
CEO & Co-Founder
Bzaar
Nishant Verman founded Bzaar to help U.S. retailers and marketers harness India’s vast manufacturing potential and seamlessly access India’s diverse product offerings, including home décor, kitchenware, outdoor furniture and pet products. Verman grew up in New Delhi, India, and immigrated to the U.S. with his family before settling in Michigan. He has an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and an MS in Computer Science from Stanford University.
Before founding Bzaar, Verman was vice president of corporate development for Flipkart, where he led strategic initiatives, culminating in the company’s acquisition by Walmart in 2018 for $20 billion. He also previously worked for Microsoft and the Morgan Stanley investment banking team.
Pooh Vichidvongsa
Senior Vice President
pOpshelf
In 2024, Pooh Vichidvongsa was named senior vice president, overseeing merchandising, marketing and stores for pOpshelf, Dollar General’s expanding suburban retail store concept that showcases on-trend products –most priced at $5 or less — in home décor, household, health and beauty, arts and crafts, entertaining, toys and more. There are more than 200 pOpshelf stores in 21 states. Vichidvongsa has been with Dollar General since 2008, holding roles of increasing responsibility from pricing analyst to vice president, DMM for home and holiday, and vice president and DMM over health and beauty. While leading the home and holiday categories, she was instrumental in the creation and rollout of a non-consumables program designed to refresh general merchandise and improve the customer shopping experience. Vichidvongsa was named to the Mass Market Retailer Most Influential Women List in 2023 and to the INvolve’s HERoes 100 Future Leaders Role Model List in 2022.
Kelly Walsh
Vice President
KitchenSupply
Kelly Walsh, vice president of KitchenSupply, joined the company as a sales manager in 2011 when it was known as Escali. He served as national sales manager from 2013-2018 and was named vice president and partner in 2018. The kitchenware company provides a family of brands including Escali kitchen scales and thermometers, The London Sip premium coffee making tools, Joyce Chen Asian Kitchenware and Old Stone Pizza Kitchen.
CHESS Pricing
Members
Exhibiting – $1,000
(Additional Attendees $800)
Non-Exhibiting – $1,500
(Additional Attendees $1.200)
Non-members
Exhibiting – $2,000
Non-Exhibiting – $3,000
Manufacturer Representatives
$1,000
Become a CHESS Sponsor
Location
Hyatt Regency O’Hare
9300 Bryn Mawr Avenue
Rosemont, IL 60018
847.696.1234
Please click this link to receive the group rate if you require hotel accommodations for the event. You can also call Hotel Reservations and mention the Group Code “G-CHES” or the “2024 CHESS Chief Housewares Executive SuperSession” group rate. The last day to make a reservation with the discounted rate is Tuesday, September 3.
2022 Schedule & Speakers
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
10:00 — 10:30 AM
Speaker: Derek Miller, President, International Housewares Association
10:30 — 11:30 AM
Successful and enduring housewares companies were adaptable long before the pandemic made pivoting so fashionable. Yet after the sudden and unforeseeable life and business disruption of the past two years that set off a series of new challenges, today’s housewares industry, from the smallest to the largest players, seems best served by companies astute enough to anticipate multiple scenarios and nimble enough to alter the course as needed. In this year’s Housewares Hot Seat panel discussion to open CHESS 2022, HomePage News Editor-in- Chief Peter Giannetti will sit with leaders of housewares companies to examine how they are implementing strategy and building organizations to remain more proactive in a reactive marketplace.
Panelists: Luke Peters, President & CEO, NewAir
Jacob Maurer, CEO, The Americas, The Cookware Company
Moderator: Peter Giannetti, Editor-in-Chief, HomePage News
11:30 AM — 12:30 PM
Speaker: John Dick, CEO, CivicScience
12:30 — 2:00 PM
2:00 — 3:00 PM
The vast majority of brands want to grow sales and other online marketplaces in a profitable manner. The challenge, however, is that channel dynamics often prevent their ability to do so. Without a clear channel-control strategy in place, brands will see their value erode, lose sales to unauthorized sellers, fail to capture optimized ROAS and experience disruption across all business channels. Brands can take back control of their destiny, and vastly improve performance, with a holistic channel-control strategy that focuses on driving the majority of sales through their desired Amazon GTM strategy — whether Amazon 1P, their own 3P storefront or another authorized 3P seller — in a manner consistent with their hard-earned brand value, while simultaneously stopping unauthorized sales and improving business in traditional brick and mortar channels. In this session, Whitney Gibson will discuss each of the components brands must implement for a holistic channel-control strategy in the eCommerce age.
Speaker: Whitney Gibson, CEO, Co-Founder, Vorys eControl
3:00 — 4:00 PM
There have been growing concerns, especially in recent months, about companies’ ability to justify their valuations. This has driven a renewed focus on understanding whether businesses that may not be profitable yet have a path to profitability and, if so, how long that path might be. Daniel McCarthy will show how an award-winning customer value-driven framework can help you more accurately assess the underlying forward-looking profitability of your business and will provide actionable drivers you can leverage to accelerate your profitability in the future.
Speaker: Daniel McCarthy, Co-Founder, Theta Equity Partners; Assistant Professor, Marketing, Emory College
8:00 — 9:00 AM
Speaker: RJ Hottovy, Head of Analytical Research, Placer.ai
9:00 — 10:00 AM
As we move to the endemic phase of COVID-19, there are many macro-economic variables, changes in consumer behavior and spending and innovations at retail that are creating unique challenges and opportunities for the home and housewares industry. Marshal Cohen and Joe Derochowski will discuss these topics and more as we look to the future.
Speakers: Marshal Cohen, Chief Retail Advisor, The NPD Group
Joe Derochowski, Home Industry Adviser, The NPD Group
10:00 — 10:30 AM
11:30 AM — 12:30 PM
Web 3.0 is upon us. Many of the companies that were slow to onboard at the outset of the Internet, Web 1.0, embraced social media and digital marketing in Web 2.0. Today, with the changing landscape of digital engagement, data privacy, new immersive technologies and the promise of the Metaverse, organizations are eager to jump on board to Web 3.0 but they are challenged to find how their brand, products and value proposition will change with the shift to the Owner Economy.
Learn how to convert those challenges into opportunities from David Lucatch, serial entrepreneur, marketer, tech evangelist, speaker and contributor to leading publications such as Forbes, Rolling Stone and Cointelegraph. Lucatch has worked in the technology, entertainment, sports and consumer marketing arenas, simplifying the complexity of technology, marketing and the evolving digital and physical environments and helping senior executives and companies drive more value for their brands and engagement with their customers.
Speaker: David Luctatch, President & CEO, Liquid Avatar
12:30 — 1:00 PM
Speaker: Peter Giannetti, Editor-in-Chief, HomePage News
1:00 — 2:00 PM
