Housewares Industry Rises to Challenges of Pandemic Year
Focus on supply chain management, a truly omni-channel marketplace and changing consumer wants/needs (for now)
If there was one universal lesson from 2020, it was the importance of being adaptable. This was, after all, the year when a pandemic quickly took over the world – complete with retail and manufacturing shutdowns, combined with unprecedented demand for housewares and home goods. As housewares executives reflect on the past year and outline their goals for 2021, there’s consensus that even the best-laid plans need to be ready to change.
“Change is inevitable,” says Bill Endres, president of Select Brands and chairman of the International Housewares Association’s (IHA) Board of Directors. “It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, where you live, or anything else … how we embrace that change and how we address that change is what brings success.”
Without question, 2020 will be remembered as an unprecedented year that brought both challenges and opportunities. The pandemic forced people out of public spaces and into their homes, which certainly took some getting used to. But this challenge quickly presented an opportunity for our industry, with consumer spending on housewares products increasing dramatically.
