Another trade show has gone down due to the coronavirus.
Last month we learned the Inspired Home Show (previously known as the Housewares Show) had cancelled the portion of its annual trade show that featured OEM parts from manufacturers in China. Today we learned they’ve called the whole thing off.
From the announcement issued today by the International Housewares Association:
“After careful consideration regarding the ongoing spread of Covid-19 (Coronavirus) overseas and recent cases in the United States, the International Housewares Association’s Board of Directors has decided not to hold The Inspired Home Show 2020, scheduled to take place March 14-17, 2020 at McCormick Place in Chicago.”
It’s an extraordinary move to cancel a trade show less than two weeks before it opens, but it’s an illustration of how fluid and fast-moving the situation is around the coronavirus.
Just a few weeks ago we learned that Mobile World Congress was cancelled in its entirety, and while another big show, the Natural Products Expo West in Los Angeles, is expected to open this week, there’s been a huge number of exhibitor cancellations in recent weeks and some forecast the show’s attendance could be down by as much as 60%.
If it wasn’t already obvious that COVID-19 was drastically changing the 2020 outlook for nearly every industry (including housewares and kitchen appliances), the cancellation of the North America’s biggest small home electronics trade show should drive the point home.
We’ll have more on the implications of this cancellation in coming weeks.
