Buyers come out for the 2009 IH+HS
- By Karen Martin, Managing Editor
Retailers searched for new products, rubbed elbows with celebrity chefs, sought the perfect colors and bonded with vendors at the 2009 International Home + Housewares Show held March 22-24 in Chicago. And, most importantly, early reports suggest that retailers were ready to buy.
Exhibitors report successes.
“Overall, I think it was our best show in the last five years,” reported Juanita Coumbias, international sales and marketing director for Starfrit, a Canadian based distributor and product developer of kitchenware products.
“I feel the show attracted fewer but more serious buyers,” said Coumbias. “There were no browsers. The buyers in attendance were there to look for something different to offer their consumers, and I guess we lucked out and had what they were looking for.”
Was it luck, or perhaps good planning? When asked about Starfrit’s strategy going into the show, Coumbias explained, “We went in with the same strategy that we developed at the introduction of our Starfrit line: great value at a fair price. This being said, the economic climate did make this strategy more relevant.”
Monika Schnacke, Frieling USA’s chief executive officer, employed an interesting and, apparently successful strategy for the show. “Our mindset was to simply pass on the recession, and I am pleased to say the response was fabulous,” explained Schnacke. Her definition of passing on the recession was to bring some 160 new products to the show.
“Such a strong strategy was certainly a bit unorthodox, especially in this climate, but we went into the show better prepared than ever,” said Schnacke. “Retailers recognized that Frieling has something for everybody, at all price points and in various product categories.”
Frieling’s success at the IH+HS show bodes well for other shows in 2009. She commented, “The success of the IHA Show prompted
us to sign up for the San Francisco Gourmet Show in August.”
In the Electrics divison, Bill Booth, vp, sales and marketing for Toastess International, was also having a good show. Booth may have benefitted from the change in the line-up in the Lakeside exhibit hall. Some of the larger vendors in the electrics category did not exhibit this year.
Regarding this change up, Booth commented. “We had meetings with some people that we probably would not have met with before, and we had more time to spend with people that we usually are in front of.”
About the show in general, Booth was clear, “There is no question that it was worthwhile. We never even considered not going to the show. In a matter of days we were able to interface with many people. This is a major event for us,” Booth added.
Escali’s president and CEO, Theo Prins, echoed previous comments, “The show was great for us. We fortunately had a good location.” Prins agreed with others that the traffic felt like it was down, but those in attendance were serious buyers.
Prins also had some celebrity star-power drop by the booth. Paula Deen stopped and chatted with Prins. Deen is no stranger to Escali scales; she picked this brand of scale as one of her favorite kitchen items last year.
Chantal, the Texas-based cookware, bakeware and accessories manufacturer, embraced the new frugality of consumers with a slight twist. Kristen Kauffman, SPM Communications, said “With Chantal, we stayed on strategy. We are not a budget line, but we are looking at ‘elegant frugality’.” She added, “You don’t want to bring a paper plate wrapped in foil to the neighbor’s pot luck; you want to bring an elegant, functional item like Chantal’s new Make & Take™ collection.” Kauffman wants consumers to know that you can be frugal with style.
While these veterans of the show did well, Leslie Haywood was also having a pretty good show for a newcomer. Attending her first show as founder and president of Charmed Life Products, LLC, Haywood’s one word summary of the show was “fabulous!” Charmed Life Products produces dime-sized “grill charms,” designed by Haywood, to be placed in food before grilling. When asked about her strategy going into the show, she said, “I just knew I needed to sell sell sell .” Haywood commented, “I was amazed at the connections and relationships that are built at the show. I hired a whole fleet of sales reps and learned where to go for my next ‘big idea’. Going is invaluable!”
New products reflect “burrowing” consumers.
Lee Eiseman, the International Housewares Association’s color and trend expert, characterized the current mood of the consumer as “burrowing.” During her remarks on consumer trends to a ballroom packed with show attendees on March 23, she explained that consumers are retrenching deeper into their homes and seeking old fashioned comfort in response to an out-of-control world.
New products on display at the show aimed for the heart of these comfort-seeking, burrowing consumers. With a back-to-basics theme, catch words such as value, frugal, and environmentally responsible were heard throughout the show.
The value side of the equation appeared as manufacturers refined their good, better, best lines for distribution. But manufacturers also reached out to consumers with new approaches to comfort foods. Chicago Metallic had the meatball baker; Progressive International introduced the collapsible cupcake carrier; Toastess International reinvented the slow cooker with its new Multipot; and Heartland Bakeware showed off the new Convertible AireGourmet™ cake pan.
In a seminar dedicated to the top trends in 2010, Tom Mirabile,vice president global trend and design for Lifetime Brands told the audience, “The recession is a life changing event for consumers.” Learning to live within our means has produced a new look at frugality. “Consumers are canning, growing herbs, brown bagging and eating at home,” added Mirabile.
While consumers may be embracing these activities, don’t forget Chantal’s frugality-with-style approach mentioned above. Todd Hannon, president of the Hannon Group, is definitely out in front of the brown-bagging-with-style trend. His Sachi insulated lunch bags were introduced at the end of last year. At the show, he previewed additional styles of chic lunch carriers. Hannon said, buyers liked the new styles, but “functionality was key, with a lot of interest in extra pockets.”
Another of Mirabile’s top trends focused on environmental accountability. Consumers are clear. He said, “They want you to have ecologically sound products without charging more.” He added that consumers will demand the environmental accountability going forward, so manufacturers better figure out how to deliver the product without charging a premium.
J.K. Adams exemplified this trend with their new Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. In 2008 the company was certified under the chain of custody certification program of the FSC. The FSC is a worldwide program with the mission to ensure forestry practices are environmentally responsible, socially equitable and economically viable. According to John Rodrigues, J.K. Adams’ vice-president, what was a 15% difference in price points for their FSC certified product line versus their non certified product lines, dropped to five percent. This pricing drop occurred as more of their original wood suppliers acquire FSC certifications.
Color is always a hot topic.
No accounting of the IH+HS is complete without reporting on the color forecast developed by Lee Eiseman and her colleagues. In her seminar “De-Mystifying Future Forecasts”, Eiseman explained that the color forecast is as much about new color combinations as it is about the colors themselves. She said, “We are not re-inventing the color wheel, just working with new combinations.”
Particularly in this economy, most consumers are not bringing in a completely new set of colors to their home. They are looking for ways to freshen their look, not replace it. Eiseman said, “Consumers are resenting thoughtless waste; sustainability will continue to be a key feature.”
Eiseman presented Pantone®’s color forecast for 2010 including eight palettes: Greenmarket, Resourceful, Transformations, Ambiance, Gatherings, Galaxy, High Definition and Pastiche. The color combinations for each palette can be found on the Pantone website, www.pantone.com.
While Eiseman tries to steer the audience away from the idea that there is one “in” color for housewares in any given year, she pointed out that Pantone® did select Mimosa Yellow as their color of the year. Yellow is a hopeful, inspirational color choice, noted Eiseman.
Yellow might be a great way to sum up the 112th annual IH+HS. Retailers and exhibitors were hopeful and inspired by the show. Hopefully, a little green will find its way into the pockets of both retailers and manufacturers as consumers are lured into stores by fresh, value-oriented products.
NOTE: Many of the events and seminars can be found online in podcasts at www.housewares.org.
