Suddenly, FOMO (an embarrassingly post-peak acronym, I know) has new relevance for me, and for many retailers and suppliers hunting the “new” and “next” in product and lifestyle trends.
Pandemic upheavals, including the recent postponement of Maison & Objet in Paris, cancellation of Ambiente 2022 in Frankfurt and persistent, gut-level resistance to attending trade fairs in India, Hong Kong and Guang Zhou has created an environment that strangles the flow of inspiration, interaction and cross-pollination are responsible for more than a decade of growth and innovation in the Home and Housewares markets. In short, we are suffering a crippling drought of context.
Context has played a pivotal role in the growth and expansion of our industry. Retailers and suppliers reaching beyond category and classification, have evolved in direct response to the entire consumer experience. This lifestyle perspective has informed the industry’s successful response to advancing home consumer purchase drivers, including health and wellness, environmental responsibility, and countless DIY trends. Trade shows remain singular in their ability to deliver a bird’s-eye view of these trends as they emerge and develop across categories.
Undoubtedly, this scarcity of content and context means The Inspired Home Show will open its doors on March 5 to unprecedented levels of anticipation and expectation. This is a good sign. In this shape-shifting interpandemic period, it is crucial that buyers have the opportunity to consider a multitude of products in a contextual, comprehensive environment. Most important, in-person trade shows allow buyers to compare new products and technologies alongside one another, as consumers will. Physical trade shows help retailers of every type create unique assortments in an environment of concentrated collaboration and education.
One more FOMO moment, if I may. There has not been an IHA/Inspired Home Show in three years. That’s thirty-six months into a consumer love affair with Home and Housewares. It is 1,096 days (counting an extra leap-year day 2020) that have changed our industry and those we serve. And in that 26,304 hours, major lifestyle shifts have sparked a Home and Housewares renaissance. If you think I’m exaggerating, ask Martha Stewart (she’ll be there) or maybe Food52 (yep, they will too). Finally, ask yourself how many new players you’ve discovered since 2019. As a friend of mine says, “You can’t schedule a Zoom meeting with a company or brand you’ve never heard of.”
Today, many professionals in our industry and others feel the need to take a stand in support of either physical markets or digital markets. They behave as though recognizing the value of both marks them as indecisive or change-averse. They are mistaking evolution for revolution. Adaptation and survival in today’s marketplace mean bringing every available resource to bear in creating stability and growth. To imagine the Next, we must live in the Now.
Context is everything. See you in Chicago.
Tom Mirabile is a Consumer Trend Strategist to the International Housewares Association and founder of New York-based Springboard Futures, a trend strategy and services firm specializing in the home and housewares Industries. Mirabile provides HomePage News with his perspectives and insights on consumer lifestyle trends and their application home and housewares.
