Housewares retailers from the UK and around the globe are invited to an online presentation providing invaluable tips for stunning window displays. Taking place this Thursday (October 13 at 4pm UK time / 10am CDT), Enhance Your Visual Toolbox will be presented by gia expert juror Anne Kong. The virtual presentation will culminate in the exciting announcement of the worldwide gia Top Window Award 2022 Global Honorees: one small and one large company. The Global Honorees – one small company and one large company – will win a trip to The Inspired Home Show in Chicago in March 2023.
Anne’s much anticipated presentation is one of the six sessions comprising Connect FALL, a three-day event from the International Housewares Association (IHA), which starts today (Tuesday October 11). The event covers exclusive, in-depth content designed to bring the international housewares industry together around critical industry education.
For the full agenda and to register free of charge for Anne’s presentation, and other sessions (starting from 4pm UK time today) go to TheInspiredHomeShow.com/connect/connect-fall
According to visual merchandising guru and gia expert juror Anne Kong: “Even the simplest change in your design approach and presentation can affect how shoppers perceive your store environment’s culture and merchandise.” She recognises that: “As consumer behaviour and expectations continue to evolve, the strategies and techniques employed to attract them must also advance and sharpen.”
Anne’s presentation will look at the power of great visual merchandising design as a language that can invite and promote sales. Merchandising with meaning and elevated communication are “just a few of the many ways retailers and suppliers can strengthen the relationship with today’s busy consumer.” Using an inspiring array of visual material to demonstrate great display techniques, the session will help retailers of all types to “discover ways to appeal to a broader generation of shoppers.”
This is the second year of the gia Top Window Award, organised by the IHA. As part of her visual merchandising presentation during last year’s Connect FALL, Anne used imagery of exemplary window displays from all round the world – including UK retailers such as Harrods (among last year’s gia Top Window Award 2021 winners), Divertimenti and Selfridges. This year, the UK submitted entries to the global competition from small store The Kitchen Range Cookshop in Market Harborough (Paddington Jubilee Window) and another entry from Harrods, in the large store category, for its Look Who’s Home series. [more here]
In addition to Anne’s presentation, Connect FALL sessions cover opportunities in inflationary times; consumer lifestyle trends (featuring trend forecaster of Springboard Futures’ Tom Mirabile); an update on PFAS chemicals regulations and housewares; trends influencing housewares, food, cooking and culture; a preview of the second annual IHA Occasions Report, examining the renewal of key life moment celebrations and how the housewares industry can benefit. The twice daily sessions are at UK time: 4pm and 7.30pm (10am and 1.30pm CDT).
“As the International Housewares Association re-commits to providing valuable in-person industry education at such events as The Inspired Home Show and recently concluded CHESS and Global Forum conferences, the IHA Connect platform continues to serve the growing demand for convenient, virtual content programs at other key planning times throughout the year,” said Leana Salamah, IHA’s vice president, marketing. “This year’s Connect FALL conference will deliver exclusive insights on shifting lifestyle trends and critical business developments to help guide home + housewares decision makers as they navigate toward 2023 and beyond.”
* Connect FALL sessions will become available to watch ‘on demand’ on The Inspired Home Show website from early November. See www.theinspiredhomeshow.com/connect/connect-fall to register and for more information.
Top: gia expert juror Anne Kong is an educator and designer specialising in Visual Merchandising, Exhibition Design, and Brand Activation. She co-authored the 7th edition of Visual Merchandising and Display for Bloomsbury Publishing with Martin M Pegler.
