LAS VEGAS–The Gourmet Housewares Show is in it’s second day here, after a stop last year in Orlando, Fla.
“We’re very pleased with what we’ve seen so far,” said Susan Corwin, GLM vice president and show manager. “It was gratifying to see the long line at registration” the first morning. Even with the challenging business climate, “Manufacturers are using the show to make fall introductions,” she added.
Some exhibitors had been “wary and conservative” initially, Corwin said, but already she has heard from several that they want to move to bigger booths next year.
The Gourmet Housewares Show “has a very big role to play,” said Shane Nolan, president and managing director of Terraillon, which relaunched its brand in the U.S. market last year. It’s where retailers can “see beyond the brochure and visit with the principals of the company. That’s where the show has purpose.”
For other companies, the show “covers a lot of West Coast retailers who didn’t go to [the International Home & Housewares Show],” said Rachel Speth, managing director of Bambu. “It captures that audience.”
Companies are also thinking about the business pressures they face in this challenging climate. “We’re getting squeezed from both sides,” Speth said, with the U.S. in a possible recession “combined with inflation like never before.”