Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
The International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago and International Housewares Association (IHA) have named the 2016-2017 national winners of the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) programme.
The gia programme was created by the International Home + Housewares Show and IHA to foster innovation and excellence in home and housewares retailing throughout the world. Since the launch of gia in 2000, there have been over 370 gia retail award winners from 45 countries.
For 2016-2017, a total of 28 home and housewares retailers from 27 countries will be honoured at the show, which takes place in Chicago from March 18 to March 21.
The gia competition is structured on a two-tier level, national and global, to recognise independent and multiple location home and housewares retailers for excellence in several business categories.
The categories are: 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; and innovation.
Each national winner is invited to the show, where an expert jury will select up to five gia Global Honorees, the winners of the Martin M. Pegler Award for Excellence in Visual Merchandising and the gia Digital Commerce Award for Excellence in Online Retailing.
London cookshop chain Borough Kitchen will represent the UK. There are three branches across the capital at Borough Market on Borough High Street in south-east London, Hampstead High Street in north-west London, and Chiswick High Road in west London.
Last year’s UK national gia winner was Lords At Home which was also named as a Global Honoree. The 2014-2015 gia Global Honorees included John Lewis (UK), while Lakeland was a Global Honoree in 2013-2014
The full list of 2016-2017 national gia winners is:
Argentina: Jumbo www.jumbo.com.ar
Australia LUC. Design www.lucdesignstore.com
Brazil: Doural Home & Design www.doural.com.br
Canada: The Gourmet Warehouse www.gourmetwarehouse.ca
China: Tayohya Corporation www.tayohya.com
Colombia:Fabricas Unidas www.fabricasunidas.com
Denmark Skagerak Denmark www.skagerakstore.dk
Eastern Europe ((Czech Republic): Potten & Pannen – Stanek KitchenAid Concept Store & Gourmet Academy www.pottenpannen.cz
France: Culinarion www.culinarion.com
Germany: One Kitchen www.onekitchen.com
Greece: Parousiasi www.parousiasi.gr
India: The Home Sukh www.homesukh.com
Ireland: Stakelums www.stakelums.ie
Italy: Stile Event Store www.stile-store.it
Japan: The Loft Co., Ltd www.loft.co.jp
Middle East (United Arab Emirates): Homes R US www.homesrus.ae
Netherlands:Kooklust 121 www.kooklust121.nl
New Zealand:Green with Envy www.greenwithenvy.co.nz
Philippines: Rustan’s Supercenters www.rustans.com.ph
Poland: Dajar sp. z.o.o www.dajar.pl
Portugal: KROST www.krost.pt
Russia: Dreamhouse www.dreamhouse.ru
Spain: Culinarium www.culinarium.es
Turkey: Bernardo www.bernardo.com.tr
UK: Borough Kitchen www.boroughkitchen.com
Uruguay: Amo Cocinar www.santucci.com.uy
USA: Toque Blanche www.mytoque.com
USA – Internet/Catalogue:Amazon.com www.Amazon.com
During the show, the national winners will be honoured at a festive awards dinner, where the 2017 gia Global Honorees, the winners of the Martin M. Pegler Award for Excellence in Visual Merchandising and the gia Digital Commerce Award for Excellence in Online Retailing will be announced.
Other gia highlights at the show include a showcase (in the Hall of Global Innovation, in Lakeside Center Lobby), where visuals of the gia winners’ store design and branding ideas, examples of visual merchandising and innovative displays will be presented.. Banners for the retailers will be suspended in the walkway that connects the Grand Concourse and the Lakeside Center.
On March 20, the gia jurors – Wolfgang Gruschwitz, Scott Kohno, Henrik Peter Reisby Nielsen and Anne Kong – will conduct a session in the Innovation Theater of the show, on the topic of: top ten retail trends for customer engagement.
