CHESS—Chief Housewares Executive SuperSession
CHESS is the International Housewares Association’s (IHA) annual senior-level conference for industry leaders. This strategic education and networking event 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 the chief officers of IHA’s most prominent member companies. The program includes keynote speakers, panel discussions, general sessions and networking opportunities—the most valuable part of the 2-day event according to past participants.
CHESS —Chief Housewares Executive SuperSession— is IHA’s annual senior-level conference for industry leaders. This strategic education and networking event 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 the chief officers of IHA’s most prominent member companies. The program includes keynote speakers, panel discussions, general sessions and networking opportunities—the most valuable part of the 2-day event according to past participants.
Tackling Uncertainty With Strategic Agility
Uncertainty seems to be the one certain thing about today’s home and housewares business. The 2025 Chief Housewares Executive SuperSession (CHESS) will provide exclusive insights into how a historically resilient business can become even better prepared and more agile to anticipate and meet the challenges of a fast- and ever-changing marketplace. The housewares business is well-positioned and primed for a renewed period of sustained growth. From more responsive supply chains to next-generation workforce optimization to deeper market intelligence, CHESS can help bring more vision and precision to every decision required to turn today’s uncertainty into tomorrow’s opportunity.
Session Details
Tuesday, October 7
Wednesday, October 8
Tuesday, October 7
9:30 A.M.
10:00 – 10:20 A.M.
Presenters: Derek Miller, President & CEO, International Housewares Association; Mike Otterman, President & CEO, Lodge Cast Iron & Incoming Chairman, International Housewares Association
10:20 – 11:15 A.M.
CHESS 2025 kicks off with the annual Housewares Hot Seat panel. CHESS facilitator Peter Giannetti will lead a discussion among home and housewares chief executives on how they are applying strategies of disruptive product, marketing and operational innovation to help their businesses adapt in an ever-changing marketplace while laying a foundation for long-term, responsive success.
Moderator: Peter Giannetti, Editor-In-Chief, HomePage News
Panelists: Henry Liu, President and CEO, Cangshan Cutlery; Cze-Chao Tam, CEO, Trinity International Industries; Pamela Stafford, President & CEO, Hestan Culinary
11:15 A.M. – 12:15 P.M.
As the industry navigates through 2025, the pressure to grow remains high for retailers and manufacturers. This session is designed to equip industry executives with the knowledge needed to “spring forward” and thrive in the ever-evolving retail environment. Don Unser and Joe Derochowski from market analytics company Circana will detail the dynamic changes and challenges in the retail industry. These leading retail and industry advisors will explore current retail trends, the impact of tariffs on spending, pricing and promotion, and evolving shopping behaviors. The session also will focus on the latest trends in the home and housewares industry and its outlook, revealing growth opportunities for brands and categories that consumers prioritize.
Speaker: Don Unser, President, Thought Leadership, Circana; Joe Derochowski, VP, Home Industry Advisor, Circana
12:15 – 1:45 P.M.
1:45 – 2:15 P.M.
Speaker: Craig Akers, Executive Director, International Housewares Shippers Association
2:15 – 3:15 P.M.
This session will examine how today’s complicated labor market requires new views on creating a culture to attract and develop managers and a workforce best equipped to execute consistently on a day-to-day basis with the long-term view toward optimizing a company’s internal and external value. Lee Roberts of Creating Planning will detail how to adapt to labor market trends and implement key concepts and practices for a predictable, repeatable workforce engine to execute business strategy, including preparing the next generation of operational leaders based on real-world decision making and system thinking.
Speakers: Lee Roberts, Partner, Managing Director, Creative Planning
3:15 – 4:00 P.M.
Scott Friedman, Chief Credit Officer of Pulse Ratings, will lead a discussion on the key macroeconomic forces shaping the retail industry. This session will focus on the evolving impact of tariffs, and how these trade pressures are expected to affect the retail landscape in the months ahead.
It will how retailers are responding to this environment through shifts in manufacturing and sourcing strategies, pricing decisions, and promotional activity. From absorbing cost increases to protect market share, to passing them on selectively to consumers, companies are adopting a range of approaches that will determine their competitive positioning.
The discussion will identify which categories and operators are best positioned to manage through the turbulence, and which may face margin compression, inventory risk, or consumer pushback.
Speaker: Scott Friedman, Chief Credit Officer, Pulse Ratings
4:00 – 5:00 P.M.
Jamie Jo Cockrell will share insights into At Home’s strategic pillars: being “Customer Obsessed, Brand Led and Product Proud.” She will provide an update on At Home’s navigation of the current environment, vision for the upcoming seasons and an inspiring outlook of its mission to “Design Your Life AT HOME.”
Speaker: Jamie Jo Cockrell, Senior Vice President, GMM, At Home
6:00 P.M.
Wednesday, October 8
7:00 A.M.
8:00 – 8:45 AM
Presenters: Craig Brightup, CEO, The Brightup Group; Rafe Morrissey, CEO, Morrissey Strategic Partners
8:45 – 9:45 A.M.
In an era of rising geopolitical tensions and shifting global supply chains, U.S. importers and manufacturers are under increasing pressure to rethink their sourcing strategies. This presentation moves beyond today’s headlines to examine the deeper forces reshaping the U.S.-China economic relationship. Drawing on the latest research, Professor Allen Morrison will explore why China’s manufacturing enterprises have been so successful and dissect the core of China’s strategy for dominance.
Key questions addressed include:
- How should U.S. importers and manufacturers assess their reliance on Chinese suppliers? When is diversification necessary — and when could it be counterproductive?
- How can companies mitigate risks such as supply chain vulnerability, regulatory shifts and intellectual property loss?
- How should U.S. importers consider diversifying their supply base outside of China, and what factors should guide those decisions?
- Where are Chinese firms poised to aggressively compete on U.S. soil, even for companies without direct operations in China?
- What long-term factors could alter China’s current trajectory — and how should importers position themselves accordingly?
Speaker: Allen Morrison, Senior Professor, Thunderbird School of Global Management
10:15 – 11:00 A.M.
Unprecedented supply chain disruption in recent years— from COVID to sweeping tariffs — has intensified the call for home and housewares suppliers to seek domestic manufacturing alternatives. In this panel discussion, key questions brands and retailers need to ask prospective domestic producers will be answered by David Duecker of SynergyOps, the contract cookware manufacturing unit of Regal Ware; and John Hermann, a veteran manufacturing leader who sold his plastic molding business to Design Molded Products in 2024. The panelists will share their insights on how high-quality manufacturing capabilities must be supported by highly responsive customer service and logistics to deliver fast, cost-effective results.
Panelists: David Duecker, President, SynergyOps; John Hermann, Executive Advisor, Design Molded Products, Inc.
11:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M.
CivicScience Founder and CEO John Dick will examine how macroeconomic uncertainties are reshaping consumer behavior and purchasing patterns.
As tariff and inflation concerns, interest rate fluctuations, and supply chain disruptions create market volatility, housewares companies face unique challenges in predicting consumer demand and planning for future growth. This session will explore the latest economic indicators, changing consumer buying patterns, and their implications for the housewares landscape. Drawing on up-to-the-minute market research and consumer sentiment analysis, Dick will provide actionable intelligence to help business leaders navigate these challenging times and position themselves for success in the face of economic headwinds.
Moderator: John Dick, Founder & CEO, Civic Science
12:00 – 12:45 P.M.
In today’s changing times, with uncertainties likely to be a reality for the foreseeable future and with competitive pressures stronger than ever, innovation requires a different mindset established by management. It requires ability to visualize and analyze a disruptive product’s success before it happens. In this panel discussion, Jack Hough and Steve Cozzolino of Grove Product Group will discuss the ‘Catalyst Art + Science’ innovation model of blending creativity with insight, strategy and analytics, combining discipline with disruption. Aspire’s Warren Tuttle will examine the concept of Open Innovation, the pursuit of innovation from outside a company’s four walls to enable a deep supply of unique ideas, technologies and potential platforms while saving on R&D expense.
Speaker: Warren Tuttle, Founder, Aspire Open Innovation; Jack Hough, Partner, Grove Product Group
12:45 P.M.
Speaker: Peter Giannetti, Editor-in-Chief, HomePage News
1:00 P.M.
2025 CHESS Sponsors
2025 Speakers
Craig Akers
Executive Director
IHSA
Craig Akers, with a deep background in logistics and technology, serves as executive director of the International Housewares Shippers Association (IHSA). In this role, he oversees all aspects of IHSA’s operations, from marketing and sales to IT and contract negotiations. Under Akers, IHSA has fostered corporate alliances, expanding its reach and cultivating strong relationships with clients and vendors. Akers leverages his extensive experience in the industry, combined with his academic background in computer science and information technology, to keep IHSA at the forefront of the ever-evolving shipping landscape. IHSA was formed to benefit IHA member companies and their freight shipping needs.
Craig Brightup
CEO
The Brightup Group
Craig Brightup, CEO of The Brightup Group LLC, a government relations consulting firm, leads the International Housewares Association’s Government Affairs office in Washington D.C. Brightup has worked for more than 20 organizations since 2009, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and he is a founding member of E Street Partners, a bipartisan consortium providing public policy services to corporations, associations and coalitions.
Previously, he was vice president, government relations, for the National Roofing Contractors Association and before that headed congressional relations for the Federal Trade Commission by appointment of President Reagan. In 2000, he was named to Fortune Small Business magazine’s POWER 30 list of “influential insiders” in Washington. He recently served as president of the Washington Industrial Roundtable.
Jamie Jo Cockrell
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SVP, GMM
At Home
Jamie Jo Cockrell has more than 15 years of experience in the retail industry, specializing in home furnishings, decor and housewares. She has served as the Senior Vice President and General Merchandise Manager of At Home since 2020. Cockrell joined the At Home team in 2015 and has held various buying and leadership roles spanning merchandising, brand management and product development. She has led brand transformational efforts contributing to more than $1 billion in growth.
Prior to joining At Home, Cockrell spent the early part of her retail career at JCPenney. She graduated with dual majors from TCU and received her EMBA from SMU Cox School of Business.
Joe Derochowski
VP, Home Industry Advisor
Circana
Joe Derochowski is vice president and home industry advisor for Circana, the new market research firm formed by the merger of IRI and The NPD Group. An expert at parsing data, Derochowski has been helping product developers and retailers for more than 30 years to identify growth opportunities through innovation, marketing, sales and merchandising.
David Duecker
President
SynergyOps
Dave Duecker is president of SynergyOps, the contract manufacturing subsidiary of Regal Ware. Duecker, former CEO of Denago Electric Bikes and a prominent leader within the consumer durable goods sector, brings to SynergyOps a track record of fostering substantial growth and consistently delivering results. He has held leadership roles for such brands as Schwinn and Mongoose Bicycles, Fiskars, and Milwaukee Electric Tool.
John Dick
Founder & CEO
Civic Science
John Dick is founder and CEO of consumer research and insights company Civic Science. Dick has extensive experience in new business formation, business development, and marketing. He is the host of the successful podcast, “The Dumbest Guy in the Room” and author of “What We’re Seeing,” the weekly email newsletter for business leaders, policymakers and celebrities. He is also a frequent speaker at the Carnegie Mellon University Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, a contributing writer for AdAge, Microsoft News, and Forbes and has appeared on Good Morning America, Yahoo! Finance, Cheddar, and AXS-TV. He also is lead singer of Moscow Mule, an alternative rock cover band, a recipient of the Jefferson Award for his charitable works.
Scott Friedman
Chief Credit Officer
Pulse Ratings
Scott Friedman joined Pulse Ratings as Chief Credit Officer in June 2023. Prior to joining Pulse, Friedman served as the principal at Scott Friedman Consulting/Olympus Peak Consulting since 2009, providing in-depth credit analysis, financial market insight, insolvency valuation work and credit risk mitigation alternatives to clients that include some of the world’s largest consumer product companies. He also served as the head of trade claims and a member of the investment team at Olympus Peak Asset Management, a credit fund with assets under management in excess of $1.7 billion. Prior to starting his own firm, Friedman was a vice president in the Trade Claims and Vendor Finance group at Avenue Capital, a global fund with assets under management that exceeded $15 billion. Before joining Avenue Capital, Scott he was a vice president at F&D Reports.
Peter Giannetti
Editor-In-Chief
HomePage News
Peter Giannetti joined IHA in March 2021 as director, editorial, content and education. In his role with IHA, Giannetti directed the development and launch of HomePage News, the authoritative B2B news platform for the home and housewares business, and has helped create exclusive IHA research reports, including the IHA Occasions Report, HomePage News Consumer Outlook Report and the just-released HomePage News InSight Trend Index.
He has reported on the home and housewares business since 1990. Before joining IHA, Giannetti served for 14 years as editor-in-chief and 14 years before that as editor of HomeWorld Business, a leading B2B print and digital publication.
John Hermann
Executive Advisor
Design Molded Products, Inc.
John Hermann has 35 years of experience in the management of manufacturing companies, including 25 years in the plastics molding industry. He began his career at the 3M Company as an engineer, later moving to manufacturing as manager of four separate manufacturing operations. In addition, Hermann has several years of experience in private equity managing portfolio companies as President of the Operations Group for Valor Equity Partners. In 2006, Hermann purchased Genesis Plastics Technologies, LLC, in Cleveland. He sold Genesis to Design Molded Products, Inc. in 2024.
Jack Hough
Partner
Grove Product Group
Jack Hough is a product management and marketing executive who has driven growth through innovation for more than 30 companies and brands, including Apple, Nike, Pyrex, CorningWare, Brunswick, Life Fitness, Herman Miller, and Whirlpool. Jack holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Design from the University of Michigan.
Henry Liu
President & CEO
Cangshan Cutlery
Henry Liu, president and CEO of Cangshan Cutlery, established the company in 2015. Created from a passion for innovation, Cangshan’s focus is on high-end kitchen knives. Liu also developed and serves as president of New Star Foodservice, an independent sister company to Cangshan, which focuses on commercial kitchenware and equipment.
Allen Morrison
Senior Professor
Thunderbird School of Global Management
Allen Morrison is a senior professor of global management and the former CEO and Director General of the Thunderbird School of Global Management. A globally recognized authority on strategy and competition with China, his work on China has been featured in Harvard Business Review four times. He is the author of 14 books, including the recent bestseller Enterprise China: Adopting a Competitive Strategy for Business Success.
Professor Morrison served on the board of a NASDAQ-listed Chinese technology company and held visiting professorships at two of China’s leading business schools. He has advised and led executive programs for more than 50 of the world’s largest corporations.
Morrison equips leaders with the strategies they need to compete—and win—on the global stage.
Rafe Morrissey
President
Morrissey Strategic Partners
Rafe Morrissey has more than 20 years of public policy experience. Before starting Morrissey Strategic Partners, LLC, he managed legislative and public policy issues on behalf of clients for EnGage, LLC, primarily in the areas of postal affairs, consumer privacy and regulatory matters. In 2012, he was promoted to vice president, public affairs for the Greeting Card Association.
Before launching MSP, Morrissey served as senior vice president, government relations, for Evans Capitol Group, a public policy firm specializing in corporate, non-profit and trade association representation. He managed a wide range of issues including labor and employment policy, tax, trade, telecommunications and Internet privacy issues.
President & CEO
Lee Roberts
Partner, Managing Director
Creative Planning
Lee Roberts is a partner and managing director of Creative Planning Business Services, for which where he leads 600 business professionals across the United States. Under Lee, Creative Planning Business Services has grown from $4 million in revenue in 2006, when he joined, to $135.1 million in 2024.
Pamela Stafford
President & CEO
Hestan Culinary
Pamela Stafford joined Hestan Culinary in 2016 as director and was promoted to managing director in 2021. As co-founder of this premium cookware brand, she partnered with Stanley Cheng, founder and CEO of Meyer Corporation and Hestan. Before joining Hestan, Stafford served as president of Brady Marketing Company from 2007 to 2016, where she was instrumental in building several premium housewares brands, including All-Clad and Shun. She began her career in housewares in 1986 as a merchandise manager at Jordano’s Marketplace, a Santa Barbara retail store specializing in gourmet kitchenware.
Cze-Chao Tam
CEO
TRINITY International Industries
Cze-Chao (Sue) Tam became CEO of Trinity International Industries in 2014 and has overseen expansion of company’s offerings from a single product to more 500 products in storage, organization, and home solutions with a focus innovation, quality and sustainability.
In 2024, Tam spearheaded the launch of Renew, housewares brand under the Trinity umbrella that brings her vision for environmental responsibility to life by using reclaimed, upcycled chopsticks in every design. The U.S. factory for Renew produces a wide array of home décor and serveware, diverting more than eight million bamboo chopsticks from landfills and transforming into stylish, functional pieces for the home.
Warren Tuttle
Founder
Aspire Open Innovation
Warren Tuttle has for many years overseen the Open Innovation product programs for several industry leading companies, including publicly traded Lifetime Brands in the housewares and tabletop markets; Techtronics Industries Power Tool Group in the power tool and hardware industries; and Merchant Media in the direct response television business. Tuttle was also behind the launch of several highly successful consumer products including MISTO, The Gourmet Olive Oil Sprayer and the SmartSpin Storage Container System. Warren also served as the Open Innovation Director for MarketBlast, the premier platform for innovators submitting new, unique & innovative products directly to leading companies and currently is active as a partner in Aspire Open Innovation. Tuttle served for 12 years as the President of the United Inventors Association, and he is a member of the National Pro Bono Patent Council (PBAC) and served on the Department of Commerce Council for Innovation Inclusion (CI2). He co-chairs the Creator Committee for the US Intellectual Property Alliance (USIPA). Tuttle’s book, Inventor Confidential: The Honest Guide to Profitable Innovation, is published by Harper Collins and available on Amazon.
Don Unser
President, Thought Leadership
Circana
Don Unser leads thought leadership for Circana. Unser’s expertise in consumer and retail trends spans a wide range of categories, making him a trusted advisor to some of today’s most successful brands. He is a frequent guest in the C-suites of companies such as Target, Apple, Best Buy, Newell. And many others, that rely on him for insight into industry and category performance, the state of retail, and winning strategies of best-in-class companies. He is also a member of the Retail Industry Leaders Association board of directors.
Prior to joining Circana, Don was a 20-year veteran at Hewlett-Packard and held a variety of positions with the company, including vice president, retail sales.
CHESS Pricing
Members
Exhibiting – $1,000
(Additional Attendees $800)
Non-Exhibiting – $1,500
(Additional Attendees $1.200)
Non-members
Exhibiting – $2,000
Non-Exhibiting – $3,000
Manufacturer Representatives
$1,000
Become a CHESS Sponsor
Location
Hilton Rosemont
5550 N River Rd
Rosemont, IL 60018
+1 847.696.1234
Please click this link to receive the group rate if you require hotel accommodations for the event. You can also call Hotel Reservations and mention the Group Code “CH25” at +1 888.452.6943. The last day to make a reservation with the discounted rate is Monday, September 22.
Access Presentations
Presentations from CHESS 2024 are available for download for event attendees only.
