Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
In an exclusive interview with HousewaresLive.net, Ben Phillips, managing director of the Steamer Trading cookshop chain, has described his double win in the recent Global Innovator Awards as “a fantastic vote of confidence”.
Seventeen international winners were announced last week in Chicago, with Steamer Trading picking up the award for the UK. The cookshop chain also went on to become one of five Global GIA Honorees selected from the winners chosen in their respective countries.
Phillips said he was “really delighted” with Steamer Trading’s success in the prestigious awards. “To achieve recognition against some of the best retailers in the world is a fantastic vote of confidence,” he told HousewaresLive.net.
And he said that he would be making full use of the double win in promoting the cookshops. “We’ve had it in the Guildford paper already and hope to get further coverage,” he said. “And when the trophy arrives back from Chicago, we’ll be giving it a tour of the stores.”
Of the other 16 winners, he said he had been particularly impressed with the Polish store, Abonda. “I loved the couple from Poland with their handmade shop with handmade products,” he said. “They were utterly charming and their store looked great. Unfortunately, they didn’t win the global award.”
He also said he had picked up some ideas from other winners that could be put into use at Steamer Trading. “There were some interesting ideas on customer loyalty clubs that might be worth a look,” he revealed.
