Future Focused Blog

The Housewares Connection to WFH

The Housewares Connection to WFH

From the earliest days of the pandemic, everyone realized how essential a pleasant and comfortable work-from-home space is to efficiency, productivity and creativity. Those factors are still top-of-mind for consumers, since the number of people working permanently at...

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Cool Christmas

Cool Christmas

Anyone who attended my Holiday-season webinars in the past two last years may remember that I emphasized the rise of green for Christmas. The big winner in this color family was mid-tone eucalyptus, a shade that has now been fully embraced. Fast forward to 2021, and...

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Pets, the Pandemic and Holiday Décor

Pets, the Pandemic and Holiday Décor

Pets, especially dogs and cats, are trending as a topic in fourth-quarter seasonal décor. Why? Because for many consumers, they were already valued members of the family. They truly deserved a role for the Holidays. During the pandemic, pets have become even more...

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A Fresh Start

A Fresh Start

THIS is Consumer Centrism in Action. I had to share this with all of you. I’m no emotional pushover — but it moved me from smiles, on to laughs, then goosebumps, and finally — yes — tears. There is No New Normal, but the NOW Normal this ad presents will help me hold...

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Listen to Laura

Listen to Laura

Just as one of the more popular quotes going around these days is that “A good crisis should never go to waste” we are also hearing people saying, “The good times are about to end,” as they are feeling that the pandemic-induced boom in home furnishings will soon be...

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Shows And The No-Shows

Shows And The No-Shows

OK, first things first: industry trade shows and market events are not going away. They will be different and will serve new purposes when they return as the pandemic starts to wind down and we return to something resembling normalcy. But in the meantime, we remain in...

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These are the 10 Retailers to Watch in 2023

To start the New Year off, here’s an amazing fact on the business of retailing: those retailers who have a strategy – an actual, real, living, breathing strategy – and know how to execute it will be the most successful.

Quiet Buying

Forget about Quiet Quitting...much less Quiet Firing. Let’s talk about Quiet Buying Way back in...