HOUSEWARES
“Consumers appear to be
increasingly thrifty in expendi- tures that are under their span of control, which likely mutes consumer spending on house- wares,” the SOI report says. Still, spending on some major housewares industry cate- gories increased in 2009. Those included housewares, personal care products and miscellaneous household equipment. “Consumers are a little different than in the past,” says IHA board chair- man Bruce Kamenstein, CEO of Casabella Holdings, Inc. “They are definitely more price conscious and the pock- etbook is not as open as it used to be. The industry has changed because retailers changed as well. In the past, a lot of retailers opened a lot of stores very quickly, so there was a lot of growth and that has stopped. It was easier to sell a product then: price was- n’t so important. It’s a differ- ent market now.” IHA’s treasurer, William
Above: an emphasis on function is driving purchases.
Reibl, president & CEO of Pro- gressive International Corp., adds that “Consumer attrib- utes have shifted; there is more emphasis on value,
functionality and meeting a real consumer need within the home. I believe this shift will be permanent and creates opportunities for growth if
“Consumer attributes have shifted; there is more emphasis on value, functionality and meeting a real consumer need within the home,” William Reibl, treasurer of the IHA and president & CEO of Progressive International Corp.
consumer purchasing habits and strategies to capitalize on these shifts in purchasing be-
havior are understood.” Philip J. Brandl, president
of IHA, points out that in par- ticularly good economic times, housewares sales do not rise as rapidly as those in other categories, but they do not sink significantly during times of economic challenge such as the deep 2008-2009 recession. “The latter is true because consumers look to housewares when they are spending more time at home and are being more cautious with their discretionary in- come,” Brandl says. “The consumer is much
more cautious than two or three years ago and that will continue for some time,” agrees Douglas Bradshaw, founder of Bradshaw Interna- tional, Inc., distributor of the Good Cook line of products. “I don’t see the economy snapping back really fast and that’s going to have an impact on our industry. Our [com- pany’s] business has been very strong and we believe that is the result of more consumers staying at home and being more interested in cooking and food preparation at home.” ■
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