Win the coveted gia (Canada) Award!
The CHPTA is pleased to be the Canadian Sponsor of the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) program recognizing overall excellence, business innovation and creative merchandising in home and housewares retailing.
What is gia?
The IHA’s gia Awards is a national and global awards program whose objective is to honor innovative business practices and excellence in home and housewares retailing and visual merchandising around the globe. Established in 2000, the global program is sponsored by the International Housewares Association (IHA) and The Inspired Home Show. Leading housewares associations and publications from around the world are national gia awards co-sponsors.
Eligible retailers and gia awards categories
Different types of retailers selling home and housewares may participate in the IHA’s gia Awards competition:
- Independent Specialty Homegoods Retailers
- Department Stores/Specialty Chain Stores/Mass Market Stores
- Internet/Online Retailers (without a physical storefront; a prior authorization by IHA required)
There are no separate categories for different types of retailers, but all participating companies compete for the same gia Global Honoree awards. One winner per trade association/publication sponsor unless the association or publication is authorized by the IHA to select more than one winner.
In addition to the general gia awards, the national gia winners have a chance to compete for the Martin M. Pegler Award for Excellence in Visual Merchandising and for the gia Digital Commerce Award for Excellence in Online Retailing (the online award depending on the total number of eligible applicants).
Judging
- IHA provides Evaluation Forms for candidates and shares best practices of successful selection processes used by other national sponsors. Each association or publication independently chooses its national winner.
- IHA appoints the Global Jury for selecting the Global Honorees. The Global Jury consists of global retail/merchandising experts and a rotating number of co-sponsoring associations/publications.
Base Criteria – gia Awards
- 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
National Winner Benefits
- Recognition as a retail leader among peers in home country
- High visibility at The Inspired Home Show (Chicago)
o A special gia winners’ display in the main Show area
o Large gia winner banners in the walkway between the Lakeside Center and Grand Concourse of McCormick Place
o A presentation at the gia dinner
o Store introduction on IHA’s website
o In gia printed materials, such as gia fliers, magazine sponsor gia ads, etc. - Access gia expert jurors’ know-how (Chicago)
- Networking with other gia winners – chance to find new business partners, get new ideas, benchmark performance, etc.
- Extensive publicity in home country – depending on winners’ pro-active promotions
- Opportunity to conduct customer/press events
- Boost employee morale and productivity
- Enlarged customer base (depending on winners’ promotions) and potential sales increases
o Right to use the gia logo, photos and information in marketing and in-store promotions, etc.
o Access to other gia-related materials (poster, banner, etc.) that can be used for promotional purposes - Leverage reputation with banks and other institutions
Nominations
To be considered for this award or to be nominate a retailer, please contact:
Michael Jorgenson
Marketing & Communications Manager
Canadian Home Products Trade Association (CHPTA)
1335 Morningside Ave., Suite 101, Scarborough, Ontario M1B 5M4
(416) 282-0022 ext.134, mjorgenson@chpta.ca
Timetable
April – September:
- Candidate recruitment is in progress.
September 30th:
- National winners are chosen and winner information is sent to the IHA
- National sponsors start working with the winner on evaluation forms, store logos and photos
November 15th:
- National sponsors are to make sure that the requirements are met and all information/materials are made available to the IHA by this date. Please encourage your winner to participate in the gia Digital Commerce Award judging as well (by completing the separate gia Digital Commerce Award evaluation form).
- National sponsors send their association/magazine and possible corporate sponsor logos (as Illustrator .eps vector files) to Tina Genualdi at the IHA.
- All national gia sponsors are asked to provide a brief commentary (can be bullet points) on their winner: what makes this store special, how are they innovative – what made you choose them as your winner.
September – March (following year):
- National sponsors stay in contact with their winners
o Confirm attendance at the Show and at the various gia events during the Show
o Honor the winner in the home country
o Introduce/write about the winner in their magazine/newsletter etc.
o Make sure that the evaluation forms and winner logo/photos meet the requirements and are made available to the IHA by the November 15 deadline
2023-2024 gia Canada Winner
The winning retailer of the prestigious gia Canada Award for 2023-2024 is Bradshaws located in Stratford, Ontario. Bradshaws has been a family-owned Canadian business since 1895. The current owners, Carrie and Jeremy Wreford purchased the store in 2006 from Jeremy’s father, Bill Wreford, who owned and operated Bradshaws since 1975 with his wife Sharon. The business offers a wide selection of unique home and housewares products and they take great pride in achieving excellence in customer service, product knowledge and store display. Bradshaws seeks out the best value in terms of quality and price from the top brands in the industry and encourages their customers to “buy it once and buy it well” whether in-store or online.
About Carrie & Jeremy Wreford – Owners, Bradshaws
In 2006, Jeremy and Carrie relocated to Stratford from Toronto to assume ownership of Bradshaws. Jeremy brought along his experience as a Set Designer in Toronto’s commercial film industry and Carrie brought her experience working as a Graphic Designer for Roots Canada.
Together, their passion and appreciation of great design, unique products and creative store displays has helped the family business evolve with the times and progress into the future with enhancements to its’ online experience and social media presence.
Jeremy and Carrie, along with their incredible team at Bradshaws are honoured to be the recipients of the 2023-2024 gia Canada Award and appreciate the recognition of their contributions to this historic Canadian business.
Instagram: @Bradshaws1895
2023 gia Global Honorees
- Argentina – Tiendas Landmark
- Colombia – Ambiente Living
- Norway – Illums Bolighus
- Uruguay – La Iberica
- USA – A. Dodson’s
- Martin M. Pegler Award
Argentina – Tiendas Landmark - Digital Commerce
Norway – Illums Bolighus
Past gia (Canada) Winners (**Indicates Global Honoree as well)
2000-2001: To Set a Table & Canadian Tire (large store category)
2001-2002: Cayne’s Super Housewares
2002-2003: The Main Course & London Drugs (large store category)
2003-2004: Kitchen Stuff Plus & Home Outfitters (large store category)
2004-2005: ** Pom Pom
2005-2006: Kingsmill’s Department Store
2006-2007: Le Gnome
2007-2008: Muffet & Louisa
2008-2009: ** Les Touilleurs
2009-2010: ** Stark & Whyte
2010-2011: Cookworks
2011-2012: Kitchen Therapy
2012-2013: ** Linen Chest
2013-2014: Teatro Verde Cucina
2014-2015: ** Hudson’s Bay Company
2015-2016: ** Lakehouse Home Store
2016-2017: The Gourmet Warehouse
2017-2018: Pots & Paraphernalia
2018-2019: G. D’Aoust & Cie
2019-2020: HOME on water st.
2022-2023: Cookery
2023-2024: Bradshaws
Further Information
The CHPTA is the exclusive gia sponsor in Canada. The IHA Global Innovation Awards program honors home and housewares retail excellence in over 30 countries around the world. The global sponsor is The Inspired Home Show, which honors gia winners each year in March in Chicago.
Click here to find out more information about the gia program.
