The housewares industry faces mounting channel management challenges because of e-commerce disruption. While off-price stores are thriving, for example, department stores are under stress as consumers abandon traditional shopping patterns. This panel of housewares leaders will reveal how they are re-aligning channel strategies to maximize growth opportunities today while securing a more stable customer base for the future.
10:15 am
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Moderator:
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Peter Giannetti, Moderator Editor-in-Chief HomeWorld Business | Gourmet InsiderPeter Giannetti has reported on the housewares industry for more than 20 years and is a frequent speaker on housewares news and trends. Giannetti also oversees editorial operations for HomeWorld Business’ sister publication, Gourmet Insider, covering the independent gourmet housewares channel. |
Panelists:
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Bruce Kaminstein
Bruce Kaminstein is Executive Chairman of Casabella Holdings LLC. He created Kaminstein Imports in 1989, an importer of household cleaning products. In the mid-1990s, the company established the brand name Casabella® and began designing and manufacturing its line of fashionable and functional cleaning products, along with kitchen and bath products. Before starting his own company, Kaminstein was president of his family’s retail store, Kaminstein Bros Hardware, from 1980 to 1990. Active in the International Housewares Association, Kaminstein served on the IHA Board of Directors from 2005-2012 and was IHA Chairman in 2010. He has been a member of IHA’s Government Affairs Committee and a member of IHA’s executive networking groups, Chief Officers Reaching Excellence (CORE). Kaminstein also serves on the board of Community Capitol New York, a microlender in Westchester County, N.Y. |
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Michael Stoll
Michael Stoll has served as president of UT Brands since 2003. The company creates innovative housewares that solve problems with clever solutions, including Urban Trend™ kitchen gadgets that add a unique twist to kitchen tools, Barbuzzo™ fun and cheerful barware and KidsFunwares™ that encourage interaction and family unity at the table. Stoll is a member of IHA’s Board of Directors and also serves on the Exhibitor Trade Show Advisory Committee. |
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Neal Asbury Neal Asbury is CEO of The Legacy Companies, a diversified group of businesses he founded or acquired. A nationally renowned expert in exporting, Asbury began his career in the commercial food service and housewares industries by working in the mail room of a Fifth Avenue food service exporter after graduating from college. He then moved to Manila, The Philippines, working as director of sales for a large trading company and traveling to capitals throughout the Far East. Seven years later, he founded Asbury Worldwide, which by 1987 grew to include 12 distribution facilities around the globe.In 1989, he created FAB Asia, Inc. in Manila, the Asian fabricator of commercial kitchens for McDonald’s and other American restaurant chains.In 1999, Asbury established Greenfield World Trade, a global trading company selling and servicing products to both the retail and commercial markets in over 130 countries. Over the years he has acquired or founded the following housewares brands: Dol-Fyn, EdgeCraft, Excalibur, General, Nautilus, Omega, Vinturi, West Bend, Yonanas and Zeroll.He is the 2008 recipient of the coveted United States National Champion Exporter of the Year Award, E-Star Export Award and the Export Achievement Award from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Asbury also hosts a nationally broadcasted talk show on Radio America, Neal Asbury’s Made in America, discussing topics relating to America’s entrepreneurial spirit and the “American Dream.” He has published over 400 articles on global trade issues, writes a weekly column for Newsmax and is the author of book “Conscientious Equity: An American Entrepreneurs Solutions to the World’s Greatest Problems.” |
CHESS—Chief Housewares Executive SuperSession—is IHA’s annual senior-level conference for industry leaders. This strategic education and networking event of the year allows attendees to access high-profile industry experts directly and share information and ideas with other housewares and home goods decision-makers. Held every fall, CHESS attracts more than 150 chief officers of IHA’s most prominent member companies. The program includes Keynotes, panel discussions, general sessions and networking opportunities—the most valuable part of the 2-day event according to past participants.
