The Inspired Home Show and the International Housewares Association (IHA), the global sponsors and organizers of the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) program, announced the Global Honorees for the gia Top Window Awards during the “Winning Visual Clicks/gia Top Window Award” presentation by gia expert juror Anne Kong earlier today during Connect FALL. The Global Honorees are:
Small Company Category
- Cook Inc. – The Culinary Store, Argentina
- Premium Home, Poland
Large Company Category
- Francfranc, Japan
- Harrods, United Kingdom
The Top Window Award is a new awards program under the gia umbrella, introduced earlier this year, to show support to the retailers in the home and housewares industry.
“We wanted to honor the hard work and innovation of home + housewares retailers around the world during the time of the pandemic,” says Derek Miller, president of IHA. “As visual merchandising and displays are a key element in the gia retail competition, recognizing and celebrating the best window displays was the right effort to take. Everyone at IHA would like to thank each company that submitted an entry into the competition and to congratulate our four winners!”
As with the general gia Retail Awards, the Top Window competition is structured on a two-tier level, national and global. Co-sponsoring the country-specific gia Top Window programs with IHA are housewares trade publications worldwide, who sponsor national gia programs in their respective countries, nominating the best windows for the global competition.
The global jury, consisting of the four gia Expert Jurors, evaluated home and housewares windows from around the world based on:
• Originality and Creativity (theme, concept, special effects)
• Merchandise Presentation
• Professionalism: Execution and Technical Aspects (lighting, attention to detail,
signage, copy)
The four gia Top Window Global Honorees of 2021 will be invited to The Inspired Home Show 2022 in Chicago and honored at a festive awards dinner on Saturday 5 March, together with the other gia winners of 2021-2022.
The gia program was created by IHA and The Inspired Home Show (formerly the International Home + Housewares Show) to foster innovation and excellence in home and housewares retailing throughout the world. Since the launch of gia in 2000, there have been more than 460 gia retail award winners, from 48 countries on six continents.
For more information about the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) program, the co-sponsors, or participating in 2022-2023, contact Piritta Törrö at piritta.torro@inspiredconnection.fi. Additional information on the gia program is also available online at TheInspiredHomeShow.com/Explore/Awards/gia-Excellence-in-Retailing. For more information on The Inspired Home Show 2022 and to pre-register for an entrance badge, visit TheInspiredHomeShow.com.
