Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Keeping in line with the new, more consumer lifestyle-focus of the event, The Inspired Home Show (formerly the International Home and Housewares Show) has reimagined all of its display areas ‘to better align with the needs of retailers seeking to meet the emerging needs of their customers’.
By creating new experiential and display areas, and enhancing those that already exist, show organiser International Housewares Association (IHA) plans to ‘shine a spotlight on new products and innovations and connect them directly to consumer and retailer trends’.
The Inspired Home Show 2020 will be held from March 14 to March 17 at McCormick Place in Chicago. It will feature more than 2,200 exhibitors from around the world, including 400 new companies exhibiting for the first time. More than 52,000 total visitors, including buyers from 130 countries, are expected to attend.
Hall of Global Innovation—Lakeside Center
Home to the Smart Home Pavilion, Inventors’ Corner and Inventors Revue, the Hall of Global Innovation in the Level 3 Lobby of the Lakeside Center will feature these displays and exhibits:
IHA Market Watch (New): As part of a new annual report and keynote presentation, IHA will unveil this companion display that features products ‘leading the way on emerging consumer trends’.
Smart Retail Experience (New): Noting today’s challenge of bringing consumers into bricks-and-mortar stores, IHA will feature an experiential retail area in the Smart Home Pavilion demonstrating multiple ways to enhance the in-store experience, including augmented reality, RFID product recognition and information, heightened POS display opportunities and the ability to purchase customised, out-of-inventory items in an on-site environment.
b8ta: The ‘retail as a service’ model is back for another year in the Hall of Global Innovation. Retailers can experience progressive, new gadgets while also learning about how innovative uses of store space can add to revenue and drive new customer bases.
Celebration of Coffee Pavilion: Now in its second year, Celebration of Coffee focuses on the movement toward authentic, highly-sensory coffee experiences in the home with an exhibit in the Wired + Well Expo in the Lakeside Center. Both a display of products designed to satisfy the discerning coffee consumer and a destination for education about how coffee consumption is evolving, this area reflects a partnership between IHA, the Specialty Coffee Association and Counter Culture of Chicago.
Hall of Global Product Design – Grand Concourse Lobby
Brand new displays curating the newest, most innovative and design-focused products from around the globe, along with future housewares concepts, are spotlighted in the new Hall of Global Innovation in the Grand Concourse Lobby of the North Building.
IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) for Product Design (new location): This display will feature 70 new products for 2020, selected by an expert panel as the most innovative of the year. One finalist in each of the 14 categories will be named Global Honoree at the gala gia dinner on the first night of Show.
IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) for Student Design (new location): The next generation of product designers will demonstrate their ideas and explain their concepts for the future of housewares here.
DISCOVER Design Gallery: This museum-like gallery is billed as ‘a curated collection of the most elegantly and intelligently designed products from around the world’. It leads to the Discover Design Expo where buyers will find high-end, design-forward concepts, many being seen for the first time at The Inspired Home Show.
New, Notable and Trending
Pantone ColorWatch (new location): Pantone will unveil the eight colour palettes that it predicts will represent the strongest home furnishing trends for 2021 in a new location on Level 2.5 of the Grand Concourse, accompanied by showcases with exhibitors’ products in the forecasted colours.
New Product Showcases: Located in the Buyers Clubs in each Expo, these showcases feature hundreds of new products making their debut at the Show. To help buyers find the new products or new suppliers on the Show floor, they will be able to scan products of interest and receive a list of the exhibitors and booth numbers before they leave the Buyers’ Club.
IHA Global Innovations Awards (gia) for Retail Excellence (new location): This display will move to the Grand Concourse Bridge where 32 retail winners from 31 countries will be featured on banners hanging across the bridge and in individual displays throughout the walkway. Five retailers will also be announced as Global Honorees at the gia gala dinner on March 14.
Information on Show events, exhibitors and attendee registration are available at www.TheInspiredHomeShow.com
