Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Housewares chain Lakeland has announced that it is ‘delighted’ to be named as a global honoree in the 2013-2014 Global Innovation Awards (gia).
Organised and sponsored by the show and the International Housewares Association (IHA) in the US, the gia programme was created in 1999, with the objective of ‘fostering innovation and excellence in housewares retailing throughout the world’.
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 and innovation.
This year, 23 national gia winners from 22 countries were selected. They were all entered the global competition. Lakeland is the first UK company to achieve the status being a global honoree since 2009.
The other global honorees are: TheSuperCool (Australia), K & Ö HOME (Austria), Merci (France), Galleria Fiaba (Italy), and Kookwinkel Bianca Bonte (the Netherlands).The results were revealed last month during the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago.
Lakeland buying director Matthew Canwell said: “We’re delighted to have been voted the best in the UK and an overall global winner. To be named as one of the most innovative retailers in the world is a huge achievement and a great honour. I’m incredibly proud of our team, and all those involved throughout the business, whose continued hard work and commitment to the company has made this happen.”
Lakeland, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, offers a range of more than 4,000 products in 67 stores in the UK, with its 68th branch due to open in Inverness in late spring. Lakeland operates a further nine stores in the Middle East, while Summer 2013 saw the Lakeland brand launch in Germany, with a dedicated German website lakeland.de
