The housewares business, the second-largest segment of the home furnishings industry after furniture, is about to undergo one of its biggest changes in decades: the relocation of Chicago’s Housewares Show to Atlanta’s AmericasMart property in January 2028.

The joint announcement arrived this week from the International Housewares Association, operator of The Inspired Home Show (the event’s official name, though many simply call it the Housewares Show); as well as from Andmore, which owns and runs AmericasMart and other major market centers in Atlanta, High Point and Las Vegas.

The eight-year deal, following more than a year of negotiations, represents a blockbuster shift for the annual show, which has taken place at Chicago’s McCormick Place convention center for more than 80 years. The move to Atlanta anticipates a hybrid of open temporary booths and permanent showrooms.

It also marks a change in timing from March to January, when it will coincide with Atlanta’s gift and home show. But it’s actually a change back to the original month, as it shifted to March in 2004 to escape the worst of Chicago’s brutal winter weather. Even before that, the IHA ran two shows a year and tried different locations for the second one, including in Atlantic City.

The move acknowledges the current state of trade shows in the broader home furnishings industry, particularly since Covid canceled or severely restricted many shows even as some suppliers cut back participation in the show model. The IHA canceled its 2020 and 2021 shows, and since then the event has shrunk by at least a third as several of the largest kitchen appliance, cookware and other housewares makers pulled out of the show completely to focus on other go-to-market strategies for their largest retail customers. Still, the Housewares Show has continued to attract some 10,000 attendees while maintaining more than 1,000 exhibitors.

For AmericasMart, the addition of housewares builds out its total home footprint, including gifts, home decor, some furniture and, more recently, outdoor furnishings (Casual Market coincidently relocated from Chicago in 2023). Nevertheless, the Atlanta property also saw vacancy rates above historic levels for many of the same factors impacting housewares.

“This is the next chapter for our Show that has always been about connection, bringing the industry together to discover products, build partnerships, and grow businesses,” IHA president and CEO Derek Miller said in a statement about the relocation. “Atlanta gives us a platform to do that in a whole new way, together creating the biggest sourcing marketplace for the industry. We’re proud to build this next chapter with a partner who shares our commitment to the people who make this community so special.”

Amory Wooden, executive vice president and chief revenue officer for Andmore, added: “This partnership dramatically expands our housewares and tabletop offerings, giving buyers even more reason to source across categories in one trip. And it signals that the permanent, cross-category marketplace model has true staying power in our industry.”

Rumors of the possible change in venue and timing have been circulating throughout the retail housewares industry for much of this year, with some speculating the show would relocate to Andmore’s Las Vegas Market. But the appeal of AmericasMart, which already has a number of housewares and tabletop exhibitors, and tends to attract a mix of both large national retailers and independent specialty stores, seems to have made the difference in Atlanta winning out.

The Inspired Home Show’s final Chicago outing will take place next year from March 9 to 11, ahead of its Southern debut at Winter Atlanta Market, January 11 to 16, 2028.

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Warren Shoulberg is the former editor in chief for several leading B2B publications. He has been a guest lecturer at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business; received honors from the International Furnishings and Design Association and the Fashion Institute of Technology; and been cited by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and other media as a leading industry expert. His Retail Watch columns offer deep industry insights on major markets and product categories.