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Kitchenware News July 2015

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H o u s e w a r e s R e v i e w KITCHENWARE NEWS S E R V I N G K I T C H E N W A R E , H O M E D E C O R A N D G I F T W A R E M A R K E T S V O L U M E 1 9 , N U M B E R 1 0 News ..............................................3 Ad Index .......................................34 www.kitchenwarenews.com VOLUME 21, NUMBER 7 JULY 2015 n $7.00 BY AMBER GALLEGOS The socially networked customer is one that asks Facebook friends whether they should invest in a Vitamix or a Blendtec. They might spend an extensive amount of time reading online product reviews to narrow down a hunt for the perfect knife. They walk into a store ultra-prepared. When on a shopping excursion, they possibly tweet about a new purchase or a bad experience. Ultimately those customers who use social media during their shopping process are about four times more likely than non-users to spend more on purchases as a result of a digital shopping experience, according to a report BY AMBER GALLEGOS At The Cupboard in Fort Collins, Colorado, staff have been employed there for decades, some more than 25 years. The kitchenware store has been a part of the city for 43 years now and keeps things f resh by allowing around 15 staffers to also act as buyers for areas throughout the 6,500 square foot retail space. As much as the employees feel a sense of ownership in the store, so too do the locals, since it has The Cupboard: Keeping Things Fresh and Local in Fort Collins, Colorado Since 1972 Continued on PAGE 13 Continued on PAGE 8 Continued on PAGE 14 Continued on PAGE 7 been located downtown f rom its inception and also carries a wide array of local foods. Owner Jim Hewitt credits the buying process at The Cupboard for helping employees stick around long-term. Given the autonomy to bring in new products, and weed out those that don't work, the buyers have a slice of the store that is their sole responsibility. "Our average staff member has been around for 12 years, so we have staff that have been here 30 years, 25 years," says Hewitt. "People have stuck around the store a long time and we attribute BY AMBER GALLEGOS Core Home is a seven-year-old company that has branched out in several different directions within kitchenwares to meet the needs of diverse retailers and customers alike. From its original bamboo products to colorful silicones, Core Home is seeking to become a mainstay in the kitchen, whether the look is modern and fashion forward or has a vintage Core Home: Bamboo, Silicone and More New Branding Planned for 2016 IH+HS Selling to the Socially Networked Customer feeling. Since its establishment in 2008 with Core Bamboo, a line focused on bamboo kitchen products, Core Home has steadily increased its offerings to include Core Acacia, Core Root Crafts, Core Mango Wood and Core Kitchen. Samba is the company's line of teak wood products, and Medici is an olive wood brand. Beginning with Core Bamboo, the company was able to stand out from traditional wooden kitchen products by introducing woven, spun and crushed bamboo, and then adding color to make the pieces pop. With wood materials firmly covered, Core Kitchen began a few years ago to play on other popular materials in the kitchen. The Core Kitchen brand is aimed at Millennials with its colorful range of silicone tools, combinations of silicone and bamboo tools or silicone and metal by Deloitte Digital called "Navigating the New Digital Divide," which studied over 3,000 U.S. consumers in late 2014 through early 2015. Digital influenced $1.7 trillion of in-store sales last year compared to just $0.33 trillion only a couple of years ago, according to the study. So what do retailers do when this type of customer walks to their store? Bob Phibbs, CEO of The Retail Doctor, a retail consultancy based in upstate New York, says that making a sale goes back to training staff well to gain the upper hand with the well- researched customer. "You have to have employees that can share the wisdom of why one is better than the other, and they can compare and contrast what someone may have found on a website," says Phibbs. "They can still make the sale if they have taken the time to train people how to engage customers and how to build a relationship. I know that sounds old hat, but most people don't know how to do those things anymore." This basic approach is especially important, Phibbs point out, because the dynamic between customers and retailers has changed. Customers can now surf the web and easily get information on specific products New branding, graphics and several category changes are planned for the 2016 International Home + Housewares Show, the International Housewares Association announced. The Show will be held March 5-8 at Chicago's McCormick Place. The new branding focuses on an "It's smART" theme, which combines smart business decisions directly with the art used to design, create and market products. Show signage and visuals will reflect the melding of smart thinking and smart design. Attendees will see large mobiles and grand portals with intersecting colored bars and semi-transparent panels showing designer drawings of products. The new branding is part of an effort that happens every four years or so to keep the Show f resh and reflect the direction of the industry. "The International Home + Housewares Show truly is a place where solid business relationships intersect with wonderfully designed products and thus, attending becomes a 'smART decision," explains Phil Brandl, president/CEO of IHA, which owns and operates the Show. "Over the years as design and innovation have become important to the products the consumer wants, this trend has been reflected through special displays and programs to help attendees find new and innovative products. The new look with 'smART' innovation and 'ARTistic' design tells our story very directly." Along with the show look, IHA is refining the expo names and making adjustments to some categories to address the supply and demand for booth space, Brandl said. These changes include: The Dine + Design Expo is now Dine + Décor and will include the categories tabletop, kitchen accessories + accents and cook + bakeware. The Gourmet Food/Savor Home category will COOKWARE n New in Nonstick 15 SMALL ELECTRICS n Breakfast Appliances 24 BUYERS GUIDE n Holiday Gifts 26 GOURMET GOODIES n Condiments 30 THE KNIFE RACK n Tomodachi by Hampton Forge 33 GADGET OF THE MONTH n Kickstarter Gadgets 34

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