The International Housewares Association reported more than 20,000 attendees at The Inspired Home Show 2022, the first IHA show since 2019 because of the COVID pandemic.
The show at Chicago’s McCormick Place, which featured 1,016 exhibitors from 40 countries, brought in retailers from 49 states and 84 countries, according to IHA. Show attendees, IHA reported, included senior-level executives, DMMs, GMMs and buyers from major retailers and distributors; and a strong showing from gift, specialty and independent retailers.
Confirmed attendees include representatives from the following, according to IHA:
U.S.-Based
- Ace Hardware
- Albertsons
- Aldi
- Amazon
- At Home
- Bed Bath & Beyond
- Big Lots
- Bloomingdales
- C&S Wholesale
- Costco
- Crate & Barrel
- Do It Best
- Dollar General
- Hobby Lobby
- HomeGoods
- Hy-Vee
- Imperial Distributors
- Joanns
- Kohl’s
- Kroger
- Macy’s
- Meijer
- Overstock
- Pampered Chef
- Qurate/HSN/QVC
- Ross Stores
- Sam’s Club
- Sur La Table
- Target
- The Container Store
- TJX Companies
- Tuesday Morning
- Walgreens
- Walmart
- Wayfair
- Wegman’s
- Williams Sonoma
- Zulily
International
- Grupo Pao De Acucar, Brazil
- Polishop, Brazil
- Linen Chest, Canada
- London Drugs, Canada
- Cencosud, Chile
- Falabella Retail, Chile
- Hipermercados, Chile
- Sodimac, Chile
- Continente SAS, Colombia
- Grupo Exito, Colombia
- Jeronimo Martins, Colombia
- Pepe Ganga – Almacenes Maximo, Colombia
- Sodimac Colombia SAS, Colombia
- Super Almacenes Olimpica, Colombia
- Imerco A/S, Denmark
- Sukasa SA, Ecuador
- TIA SA, Ecuador
- Galeries Lafayette, France
- Leroy Merlin France, France
- Monoprox, France
- Teleshopping, France
- Home Shopping Europe, Germany
- Otto GMBH & CO KG, Germany
- Rewe Group Buying GMBH, Germany
- Distribuidora R&V Comercial, Guatemala
- Hometown by Praxis Retail LTD, India
- Home Store and More, Ireland
- United Hardware Limited, Ireland
- Chedraui, Mexico
- Comercial Multinova SA DE CV, Mexico
- Coppel SA DE CV, Mexico
- El Palacio de Hierro, Mexico
- HEB, Mexico
- Liverpool, Mexico
- Mercado Libre, Mexico
- Organizacion Soriana, Mexico
- Sears Operadora, Mexico
- Tiendas Chapur, Mexico
- Alpha 55, Morocco
- Do It Center, Panama
- Farmacia Arrocha, Panama
- May’s Zona Libre, Panama
- Cencosud Retail SA, Peru
- B3 Sp. ZO.O, Poland
- Superwnetrze PL, Poland
- Tamimi Markets, Saudi Arabia
- Yeo Teck Seng (S) PTE. LTD, Singapore
- Shoprite Checkers PTY LTD, South Africa
- Verimark (PTY) LTD, South Africa
- El Corte Ingles, Spain
- La Oca, Spain
- COOP, Switzerland
- Manor AG, Switzerland
- Enplus, Turkey
- Ace Hardware, United Arab Emirates
- Burton McCall LTD, United Kingdom
- Eddingtons LTD, United Kingdom
- Harrods LTD, United Kingdom
- Lakeland Limited, United Kingdom
- Next UK, United Kingdom
- Sainsbury’s/Argos/Habitat, United Kingdom
- Tesco UK, United Kingdom
- TJX Europe, United Kingdom
Long-time and first-time show exhibitors reported highly successful show participation, citing the presence of major buyers and more meaningful time with buyers, according to IHA.
Here is what executives from several exhibiting companies said about the show:
“Not only are all the major retailers here, but they are spending more quality time than ever. Often during trade shows, the buyers are rushing from one meeting to the next. This year, we had executives spending thirty, sixty, ninety minutes with us. Those are the exchanges that truly build relationships.”
– Tobias Gerfin, CEO, Kuhn Rikon
“There is a lot of retail leadership here this year. It’s the buyers, but it’s also their boss and their boss’s boss. We’ve had incredibly productive meetings with current customers and also with major prospective customers.”
– David Nicklin, vice president, marketing, Gibson Homewares
“We’ve met with people from all over South and Central America, Europe – and even a few from Asia; it feels like there are even more international people here than normal. We have written more orders at this show than we’ve written at any other show, and we don’t come here to write orders. We are seriously blown away.” – Will Symonds, President, Oggi
“I came in with pretty high expectations, and the Show exceeded them. We’ve had meetings scheduled with buyers from start to finish – all the way through late Monday afternoon.”
– Bill Endres, CEO, Select Brands
“The show was a fantastic success. It may have been our best Show ever. We saw all our regular buyers plus more. From specialty stores to our large online retailers to international buyers from around the world, it was fantastic.”
– Yvette Laugier, managing director, Peugeot Saveurs
“We were busy from start to finish. We saw a lot of our top buyers here, and we checked the box on just about every key larger retailer, so we’re very happy.”
– Lee Riddle, vice president, sales, Lodge Manufacturing
“The Inspired Home Show was a great show for us. We had productive conversations with all of our key accounts, showcasing our newest products. We were able to plan future visits to continue our sales momentum. We also had engaging interactions with top consumer media sharing new product innovations and trends.”
– David Shull, executive vice president, marketing and communications, Jura Inc
“This has been one of the best shows we’ve ever had. We’ve been coming 12 years, and we’ve had people all day Saturday and Sunday.”
– Mark Greenwood, vice president, new product development, YouCopia
“We are so glad that we came to The Inspired Home Show as an exhibitor this year. We have supported IHA for many, many years, and we are happy that the show was so successful this year.” – Kevin Chandrarajan, marketing manager, Salton
“Fantastic buyers. We saw everywhere from, of course, our independent customers; we saw great regional chains. We had some opportunities to meet with the largest mass buyers out there. We saw Walmart, we saw Ace, we saw Hy-Vee. We saw everyone we wanted to see. It was amazing.”
– James McHenry, director, national accounts, Widgeteer
“This is our first year being at the show and being an exhibitor, and overall the experience has been nothing short of incredible. This is something we will continue to do year after year.”
– Megan Cunningham, brand manager, Ardent Life Inc.
IHA also highlighted some success stories shared by exhibitors on social media:
“It’s been an amazing show! Great connections and awesome new opportunities for 2022! We can’t wait to show you all the phenomenal things we have planned this year!” @theinspiredhomeshow #TIHS22”
– @cangshancutlery (via Instagram)
“Happy to report that The Inspired Home Show was a big success for Nuni. Not only did I reconnect with some old colleagues in person, but I grew my network exponentially this year. Where else will my company get the opportunity to meet with the major brands within the toaster space?
– Elliot Benitez, Nuni Tortilla Toasters (via LinkedIn)
“Our team had a fantastic time chatting with our incredible new and existing customers & consumers. So many great introductions, meetings and conversations were had.”
– Honey-Can-Do International, LLC (via LinkedIn)
“That’s a wrap! Our first tradeshow in the United States has come to a fantastic close. Thank you to The Inspired Home #TIHS22 for an incredible experience! We look forward to keeping in touch with all the wonderful new customers and friends we’ve made.”
– @Use BOP (via Facebook)
The Inspired Home Show 2023 is set for March 4-7, 2023, at McCormick Place in Chicago. IHA reported buyer registration is currently open at TheInspiredHomeShow.com/Register, and space applications to exhibit will be accepted beginning in May.
