IHA names Global Innovation Award honorees for product design, retail excellence
Twelve new products from up-and-coming companies and well-established brands have been selected as Global Honorees in the International Housewares Association’s (IHA) 2026 Global Innovation Awards (gia) for Excellence in Product Design.
The Global Honoree in each of 12 categories was announced during the annual gia Gala last night. The awards are part of The Inspired Home Show 2026, IHA’s premier global home and housewares marketplace taking place now through Thursday, March 12 at Chicago’s McCormick Place.
The 2026 Global Honorees are:
- Bath + Personal Care: Brabantia USA – Steam & Ironing Board D, 135 x 45 cm
- Cleaning: Gleener Inc. – Swift Plus
- Cook + Bakeware: Brod & Taylor – Bread Proofing Bannetons
- Home Décor + Gifts: Cribsi Inc. – Luna Lantern
- Home Organization + Storage: Deli, Inc. – Stacking Tool Organizer
- Household + Home Electrics: DREO – TurboCool Misting Fan 765S
- Kitchen Electrics: JURA Inc. – JURA C9 Piano Inox
- Kitchen Hand Tools + Cutlery: DK Household Brands Corp. – Susi 4 Garlic Press
- Kitchenware: Prepara – Berry Pod
- Luggage, Travel Goods + Accessories: Bluevua.com – Ropot R/O Water Purifier for Travel
- Pet Products: PawsPik – CeramiFlow Ceramic Battery-Operated Pet Water Fountain
- Tabletop: Vacane Home Concepts, Inc. – Bento Box Large
“We’re pleased to recognize these innovative brands and offer another platform to elevate outstanding new products for the home,” said Derek Miller, IHA president and CEO. “We know that consumers today are craving innovative solutions, while also injecting connection, joy and wellness into their daily lives.”
Entries were judged by an independent panel of industry experts, which included designers, retailers and buyers from Arizona State University, Artichoke, Cook’s Warehouse, Cunningham Designs, Friedman Design, HTI Buying Group, In the Kitchen, Lekka Retail, Leon & Lulu, National Building Museum, Pampered Chef, Quality Products, RLD Intl, Sign of the Bear, and Volume Studios LLC.
The panel selected five finalists in each of the 12 categories after an initial round of judging in February. These finalists were then evaluated in a second round of judging earlier this week to determine each of the Global Honorees.
A special gia display in the Grand Concourse Lobby of the North Building will showcase these products. They will also be included in New Product Showcases, located in the Buyers Clubs in the North and South Buildings.
All product finalists can also be viewed online at theinspiredhomeshow.com/awards/gia-product/.
2026 gia Global Honorees for Retail Excellence Announced
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 2026 gia Global Honorees for Retail Excellence.
The Global Honorees are:
- Kabinett, Australia
- Kitchen Center, Chile
- Casa Cuesta, Dominican Republic
- SCHÄFFER, Germany
- The Culinary Institute of America – Marketplace at Copia, USA
The global gia jury, consisting of four retail/visual merchandising experts and seven editors and publishers of co-sponsoring housewares trade publications from around the world, selected the gia Global Honorees from a pool of 31 national winners that were announced earlier this year.
They also selected winners of two other special awards: The Martin M. Pegler Award for Excellence in Visual Merchandising was awarded to Kabinett of Australia and Casa Cuesta of Dominican Republic. The gia Digital Commerce Award for Excellence in Online Retailing was awarded to Home Centre of Saudi Arabia.
In addition to the 2026 Global Honorees, the 2025 gia Top Window award winners were honored at the gia Awards dinner that took place at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago.
The gia program was created by IHA and The Inspired Home Show to foster innovation and excellence in home and housewares retailing throughout the world. Since the launch of gia in 2000, there have been over 600 gia retail award winners, from 60 countries on six continents.
The competition is structured on a two-tier level, national and global, evaluating retailers within the following categories:
- Overall mission statement, vision and strategy
- Store design and layout
- Visual merchandising, displays and window displays
- Marketing, advertising and promotions
- Customer service and staff training
- Innovation
Co-sponsoring the country-specific gia award programs with IHA are housewares trade publications worldwide, which sponsor national gia programs in their respective countries. This year, 31 national gia winners from 30 countries were selected by the co-sponsoring trade publications with targeted distribution in over 50 countries on five continents. All winners were automatically entered in the global competition at The Inspired Home Show in Chicago.
The 2025-2026 gia winners are recognized and prominently featured at The Inspired Home Show. A festive gia awards dinner was held at the Palmer House Hotel on March 10. In addition, there is a special display at The Inspired Home Show in the Grand Concourse Lobby introducing the national winners to visitors and exhibitors.
Both gia national winners and Global Honorees are also recognized in a gallery on TheInspiredHomeShow.com/Awards/gia-Retailing.
