Review
appliances housed in a choice of wood or nickel finish so they blend in as furniture. Cooling tends to be more along the mini- fridge or electric cooler angle with this show, and Cooluli had some great products including the 10-litre Glow energy-efficient mini fridge – complete with mirrored front and adjustable LED light ring for makeup mastery! (For those not in the know, keeping make-up in the fridge is advocated by some beauty experts to prolong the life of any ingredients like antioxidants and probiotics.)
8
New-look show, continued innovation
A brand new look for The Inspired Home Show – consolidating the three main expos into two halls – gave the Wired & Well category a real vibrancy, says Sarah Selzer
display, gia retailers and supplier awards finalists from across the globe for product and merchandising, keynote speakers – and one of my favourites, a showcase for inventors. Historically the three main expos within the show have been housed in three halls, so the announcement that these would be consolidated this year into the North and South halls raised a few eyebrows… but the result was a real positive! For the visitor, there was less dashing about and for exhibitors, particularly electricals, their new position in the North Hall created a real buzz.
T
here is always so much to see at The Inspired Home Show in Chicago, not just stands with product that are the staple of any show but a vast array of mini expos, Pantone colour
It was demonstrated by the scale of some of the stands like Gourmia, Chefman and Cuisinart, a returning brand to the show and which occupied a large section towards the back of the hall. I understand that Cuisinart, which has some presence in the UK, is looking at expanding that over the coming year. Watch this space! Probably one of the most exciting aspects was the sheer depth of innovation as well as style and colour across a whole host of brands. Air treatment has always been a key product sector and one of the stand-outs this time was Aircare from Essick Air Products – a company with over 70 years in air treatment, but chose to launch the Aircare brand in 2016 to focus solely on humidifiers. It now has dozens of models from compact and table-top to largescale
There was plenty of traditional shape and colour – black and silver! – on offer from brands and all coupled with innovation. Chefman was one of the most impressive with a line-up of typical products like kettles, hand blenders and espresso machines, but also products like the AccuGrill smokeless indoor grill, ‘anti-flow’ waffle makers (the wrap-around channel catches excess batter – genius!) and the compact size Grind and Brew filter coffee maker (the whole product is enclosed in a cabinet so it operates quietly). There are also three smart products which work with the company’s Chef iQ app – dehydrator, multi- cooker and toaster oven/air fryer.
Colour and contemporary shape was very much in evidence, with monobloc room sets from up-and-coming New York-based Made by Gather leading the way, while Buydeem had eye-catching displays of retro-shaped SDA in yellow and green (pictured below).
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