Live blogging the Home and Housewares Show in Chicago, exhibitors have decidedly and overwhelmingly used color to offset these recessionary economic times.

The theory is manufacturers and retailers must give the consumer a reason to buy and color can immediately outdate a product and make it necessary to purchase on the basis of color.

Color has always been used, though generally cautiously by most housewares manufacturers and retailers, i.e., Target…Wal-Mart, but without question, color is now THE statement. Case in point is Whitmoor, above. They’ve taken an ordinary ironing board cover and used great eye popping colors to enhance its utility.

I can tell you I don’t need an ironing board cover, but this is an inexpensive (relatively speaking) purchase that is going to make me feel good. That dull green (that I purchased a few years back in hopes of updating my everyday routine) can now be replaced by a HAPPY COLOR.

Other show trends are focused on cooking (as a large percentage of consumers have decided fine dining is expendable); so celebrity chefs are here, and gourmet cooking utensils now rule.

Lauren Greenwood, my pr contact at the show, also pointed out when showing me through the media rooms selected products, that manufacturers have also responded to these recessionary times by creating products and offerings to enhance a new DIY sensibility…..where you may have farmed out the cleaning to a maid at one point in time, you are now doing it yourself and manufacturers are enhancing that everyday utilitarian product.

My favorite of these is ALICE Supply Co., a self described hip housewares company who is putting fun into home chores by using HAPPY COLORS and designs (stripes and camouflage) on plungers and hoses and dustpans and broom handles, oh my!

Maria Barnes and Raili Clasen are the brains behind ALICE Supply Co.. Friends since college, Maria and Raili both came out of the fashion industry having worked for Roxy and Quicksilver. Using those connections and those sources, ALICE Supply Co., now all of two months old, is bringing that same hip cool formula from the surfer world and making waves in a formerly staid part of the housewares industry. You can find their product currently at Fred Siegal in Los Angeles and Lisa Perry in New York. Their website is www.alicesupplyco.com but is in the process of being designed so is coming soon.

As to the GREEN category it’s still alive and well but it looks to have receded to some degree in importance (with the exception of water bottles which proliferate at this show) while manufacturers decide how best to define themselves in the green/sustainable environment. There is a focus on more durable long lasting product as opposed to throw-away disposable products. This in itself can be defined as part of the green movement. But I can tell, overall, the lingo of what is green and what is not or where a product falls on the GREEN SCALE (a term I’ve coined) is yet to be clarified.

In an effort to help not only the consumer but other manufacturers clarify their position on the sustainable movement, I’ll be using Aladdin and Eco Gen (I blogged about Eco Gen launched at last year’s housewares show) as the best of the best when it comes to walking the walk.
Check back soon for the details.

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The standout themes of this show were sustainability (and the definition and education of same), materials innovation, and color.

This last one, color, is of no surprise to my readers as that is what I earlier stated as one of the top 5 2009-10 top trends (color cornucopia), and for that matter sustainability will be of no surprise to either my readers or my clients–the fact that housewares companies stepped up their game for all of the above is surprising though as aside from tabletop a lot of the housewares companies stick with their same programs for as long as they can. In other words, innovation has NOT been a hallmark of this industry, but I will say that this show in Chicago has most definitely and finally changed with the times.

That said, there are stand-out companies who have exemplified the attributes of these themes above and beyond, and that is how I hope to personalize each of the aforementioned themes (trends if you will) of the show.

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I’ll be posting beginning tomorrow my highlights of the Chicago International Housewares Show that exhibited Sunday thru Tuesday of this week. As a trend forecaster, it’s not my habit to post trends after a show…..since I usually work with manufacturers or retailers prior to shows, I tend to think it’s a little after the fact or that I may be stating the obvious. This Housewares Show was or is a little different. For one, it was important for me to see if the show had made progress from when I was there a few years ago and secondly if that progress was in keeping with what I’ve found to be important on a macro basis the world over. And, I am happy to report positively on both. The Housewares industry overall deserves a shout-out for stepping up their game especially in view of the current state of the economy in the U.S..

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