NEW YORK -- The International Home and Housewares Show will enhance its seminar program; expand its Gourmet Home & Food District, or GOHO, area of the show floor; and co-locate for the first time with the Association of Retail Marketing Services Supermarket Promotion Show, according to association executives at an event here this month.
"If you talk to the retail community, they will tell you over and over that they want fewer and more meaningful events," said Perry Reynolds, vice president, marketing and trade development, International Housewares Association, Rosemont, Ill.
The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade will host an additional showcase of new and award-winning food product viewings and tastings as part of the GOHO area.
For the first time, the ARMS Supermarket Promotion show will be co-located with the IHA annual show. In past years, the shows have been held at about the same time, usually on overlapping dates, in Chicago. However, this is the first time they will be hosted at the same venue.
"We've always known that about 60% of our buyers also attend the Housewares show," said Gerri Hopkins, executive director, ARMS, Red Bank, N.J.
Educational highlights of the show will include a presentation by the General Merchandise Distributors Council, Colorado Springs, Colo., about marketing to Hispanic consumers.
