Exhibiting companies indicated that The Inspired Home Show, with a new consolidated format and three full Show days, was a tremendous success, citing not only the presence of major buyers, but the ability to have more meaningful time with those buyers during the Show than in years past.
In their own words:
“We’ve been coming to The Inspired Home Show now for 14 years. It’s a long trip from Australia, but we come back every year because it’s the best place to see our customers. We see our reps, key accounts, independents. This is the biggest show in the world for us and where we get everyone in our industry together and show them new product, bringing through what worked last year. I mean, this is it for us. This is as good as it gets. The Inspired Home Show is by far the biggest show in the U.S. Another reason why this one is special is the number of different exhibitors that come here. You’ve got everything from a little corner inventor, a little backyard inventor, to the biggest brands on the planet. It’s impossible to miss. There is no greater concentration of buyers in America than at this Show.” — Alex Gransbury, Founder & CEO, Dreamfarm
“This was a very vibrant and robust Show. There was lots of energy across the Show floor. We had strong engagement with our key retail partners who visited with us multiple times. A good indication that 2024 is starting off positive.” — Neal Asbury, President & CEO, The Legacy Companies
“The Show has been very positive given the breadth and quality of buyers that we’ve seen. In previous years, you might have had 20 people attending from one retailer, and it was very hard to discuss business or really talk to the people that make the decisions. We now have two or three people coming in from some of our lead retail partners, and they spend more time, it’s much more productive and they really are excited to be able to come here without being crowded out and to get their job done.” — David Nicklin, Senior Vice President Marketing & Licensing, Gibson Homewares
“Honey-Can-Do has exhibited at every Chicago Show since our founding in 2008, and this was definitely one of our best. We had meetings with just about every major retailer in the U.S. in our category as well as with a number of influencers. We received important feedback on the new items that we displayed and built upon a number of existing relationships. We also met with many retailers, both domestic and international, with whom we are not currently partnering. The traffic from key retailers was very strong, and we left the Show a stronger company than when we entered it. We look forward to The Inspired Home Show 2025.” — Steve Greenspon, Chief Executive Officer, Honey-Can-Do International
“We moved to the North Building this year and felt a renewed energy this Show. We were busy with quality appointments with both buyers and senior management. It provided us a great opportunity to get our new product launches in front of the decision makers.” — Tom McMahon, President, JURA Inc.
“The Inspired Home Show 2024 was a great success for Whitmor. The traffic was steady, and the retailer meetings held were very high quality and provided us with dedicated time to engage in strategic conversations with many of our retail partners. The condensed footprint of the Show seemed to be highly appreciated by the retailers in attendance as well.” — Scott Felsenthal, CEO, Whitmor, Inc.
“Our booth was busy with quality meetings all three days, including large major key accounts as well as independent specialty stores. We recently changed our distribution strategy for Canada, and this was our first show since doing so. It was exciting to see numerous Canadian retailers face-to-face and show them the full Kuhn Rikon product line.” — Melissa Ledbetter, Director, Marketing & E-commerce Sales, Kuhn Rikon
“WOW, what an amazing Show! During the three days of The Inspired Home Show, we had over 180 meetings—starting with customers at 8:45 a.m. on Sunday until our last customer left at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday. We’re still riding the wave of excitement and feeling energized to regroup and start following up with the incredible connections made this year on the Show floor.” — Bill McHenry, President & CEO, Widgeteer
“The retailers were interested in innovative functionality, unique products and incorporating trending colors into kitchen electrics. Gourmia’s offerings struck a chord with retailers by being aesthetically pleasing and integrating innovative technology, making this year’s The Inspired Home Show a resounding success for the Gourmia team.” – Heshy Biegeleisen, Founder, Gourmia
“We enjoyed highly productive meetings at The Inspired Home Show this year. Our sales team was consistently busy with customers big and small, with a lot of international interest.” — Adam Fischer, Vice President, Brand, Cangshan Cutlery Company
“This was my 20th Chicago Show, and I honestly can’t remember a better one. The energy was good–high quality of attendees and a productive mix of domestic, international, specialty and major accounts from various channels. Everyone seems to be proactively working strategies to grow business and take risks this year. I don’t think there’ll ever be a substitute for this show; it’s simply essential. Oggi wrapped up this show feeling very confident about 2024, worth every penny of the investment in participating. We will be back next year.” – Will Symonds, President, Oggi Corp.
Beyond Inc. executives, who hosted a reception for exhibitors on Sunday and presented a Keynote session on Tuesday discussing their aggressive growth plans for Bed Bath & Beyond, also shared positive comments on the 2024 Show:
“I walk [The Inspired Home Show] to establish better relationships. There are a lot of products, but it’s the relationship that gets established. How do we work together to establish better turns and better margins and most importantly a better customer experience? I think too many buyers from retailers across the country are coming to a show like this thinking that they’re just here to navigate price. They need to navigate and establish relationships. We need to put personal relationships back at the forefront. I love The Inspired Home Show because it really gives me an opportunity to meet vendors from every category, and it gives me the opportunity to learn about what people are doing that I’m not thinking about. Why do I really come here? I come here to learn.” — Marcus Lemonis, Executive Chairman, Beyond, Inc.
“[Being here] at The Inspired Home Show is a great way to get out, meet new suppliers and see all the innovation that’s out there. I’ve been super impressed with all the color. It makes me really think about the Bed Bath & Beyond business and how we can really get ahead of all the new trends and make sure that we’re being on the forefront of everything housewares for our customers. We’re looking for that innovation—for that thing that wows us and is going to wow our customers. Often the smaller suppliers have the most unique things. You never know what you’re going to find and that’s the fun of the Show. It’s an efficient way for our buyers to see what’s going on in the space and consume a lot of information in a short amount of time. [This Show] is a very efficient way for our buyers to be on the forefront of what’s going on.” — Chandra Holt, CEO, Bed, Bath & Beyond
