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Tovolo Mini Ice Brings Trend Home

Mini Ice (a.k.a. nugget ice, pellet ice, or chewy ice) has become increasingly popular with consumers due to its satisfying light and “chewy” texture and refreshing chilling qualities. However, to have this at home, consumers have been limited to buying from fast-food restaurants, using poorly designed in-home trays that don’t work, or buying expensive ice-making machines … until now. Tovolo, a leader in go-to kitchen innovations, is changing the game by bringing this trendy ice option to consumer kitchens with two innovative new Mini Ice products.

The Tovolo Mini Ice products are designed to make the popular nugget-style ice easily and affordably. Both designs feature flexible, durable materials that easily release the mini ice; while tight-fitting lids seal out odors and prevent spills. All the materials are BPA free and dishwasher safe.

This whimsical solution is fun to use and satisfyingly addicting! Featuring a compact-sized, squeezable design, the innovative and easy-to-use cylinder makes enough ice to chill more than two drinks–creating 200 mini ice cubes per batch. Simply squeeze to pop the ice free.    

  1. FILL the ice mold to the water-line marker and push in the plunger core/lid.
  2. FREEZE for 4-6 hours.
  3. SQUEEZE. When you are ready to use, run the mold under warm water and simply squeeze to pop the ice free.

The set includes two ice cylinders with Charcoal-colored lids.  MSRP $17.99

The diamond-shaped orientation of the ice on the Twist & Release Mini Ice Trays makes popping the ice out simple. Featuring flexible, stackable trays that easily release with a simple twist, the set includes two trays with tight-fitting lids, a handy serving scoop, and storage bin to keep ice fresh and clean. Each tray makes 150 mini cubes—enough to chill more than two drinks each.

  1. FILL the tray to the water-line marker and cover with the lid.
  2. FREEZE for 4-6 hours.
  3. TWIST. Run the tray under warm water, remove the lid, and just twist to pop the ice free.

The set includes two ice trays with Charcoal-colored lids, one scoop, and one storage bin. MSRP $19.99

“Our mission is to make innovative and high-quality kitchen gadgets accessible to everyone,” said Elaine Mundorf, product manager at Tovolo. “With these uniquely designed new mini ice-making products, anyone can now upgrade their beverages and enjoy America’s favorite ice easily and affordably at home.”

Tovolo Mini Ice Sets are available on Amazon.com.

Spectrum Diversified Designs, LLC creates innovative storage and organization solutions for all rooms of the home. Spectrum and Tovolo brands are the sources for kitchen, pantry, bathroom, closet/storage organization, and more. By offering unmatched results through customer service and an extensive portfolio of patented designs, Spectrum Diversified Designs, LLC is a leader in housewares committed to developing innovative new items, finishes, and product collections.  

For more news of interest to the housewares industry, subscribe to Kitchenware News & Housewares Review.

Kohl’s Expands Home, Seasonal Decor

Kohl’s has unveiled its new approach to home – a strategy designed to deliver customers a fresh and expanded selection of stylish home and seasonal decor, all at affordable prices. The significantly expanded assortment, available now both in-store and online, offers customers an inspiring and discover-worthy curation of home and seasonal products in new categories and styles for every home.

“We’ve been making meaningful changes to reposition and expand our home offerings over the past year and are excited to unveil Kohl’s new assortment of on-trend and affordable home products to customers nationwide,” said Nick Jones, chief merchandising and digital officer. “As part of Kohl’s broader strategy to drive growth, we identified a real opportunity in home, and we’ve been thoughtfully building the category to position ourselves as a destination for home goods. We’re incredibly encouraged by initial customer response to our home decor assortment, and we see Kohl’s becoming a more formidable player in the home business.”

A Home Assortment, Reimagined

To create a meaningful transformation of its home business, Kohl’s expanded select categories in its assortment by 40 percent, offering newness in areas including wall art, glassware and ceramic home decor, barware, botanicals, lighting and more.

  • A Curated Assortment of Unique Home Goods: Kohl’s new home collection will feature a curated mix of unique decorative home products in new-to-Kohl’s categories, such as wall art, botanicals, storage, pet, lighting, frames, glass and ceramics. The assortment is focused on approachable style and affordability.
  • Strengthened Everyday Essentials: Kohl’s home assortment maintains some of its key programs that customers have loved, such as bedding and bath, but has elevated the assortment to include more modern aesthetics and frequent pattern and color injections to offer a constant stream of style-forward options for customers’ evolving preferences.
  • A Seasonal Decor Destination: Kohl’s new home strategy is also positioning the company to be a year-round destination for everyday occasions and seasonal holidays. It will deliver 60 percent newness in home and holiday decor seasonally to keep customers coming back to refresh their homes for each holiday.

Rediscovering Home at Kohl’s

Kohl’s has created an elevated and expanded in-store and digital home experience, making it easier for customers to find something new and exciting for their home every time they shop. To re-introduce its home offerings to customers, Kohl’s is engaging in a multi-channel marketing approach including immersive digital activations that are rooted in inspiration and experimentation, partnerships with home design experts, a live pop-up experience in New York City, and more.

“We know the way consumers shop for home goods is centered around inspiration, and we have a unique opportunity to re-introduce current customers and invite new customers to think of Kohl’s when looking for inspiration for their home,” said Christie Raymond, chief marketing officer. “We’re prioritizing ways to connect, drive awareness and engage with home shoppers to enhance our credibility in the category, reinforce our compelling value, and provide new ideas and solutions that spark creativity for customers, to ensure Kohl’s is a top-of-mind destination for home decor.”

For more information and to see some of Kohl’s exciting new home products, visit stores nationwide and Kohls.com/home.

For more news of interest to the home goods industry, subscribe to Kitchenware News & Housewares Review.

Overstock Changing Corporate Name to Beyond Inc.

Overstock.com, Inc, which operates as Bed Bath & Beyond, will change its corporate name to Beyond, Inc. effective Nov. 6. With the corporate name change, the company will transfer its stock listing from the Nasdaq Global Market to the New York Stock Exchange and change its ticker symbol from OSTK to BYON.

Following the corporate name change, Beyond, Inc. will continue to operate its furniture and home furnishings ecommerce business under the Bed Bath & Beyond brand.

On June 28, Overstock.com, Inc. acquired the Bed Bath & Beyond brand and associated intellectual property. Overstock was rebranded as Bed Bath & Beyond, launching bedbathandbeyond.ca (formerly overstock.ca) in Canada on June 29, followed by bedbathandbeyond.com (formerly overstock.com) and the brand’s new mobile app in the United States on Aug. 1. Bed Bath & Beyond sells a broad array of high quality, on-trend home products at competitive prices, including furniture, bedding and bath, patio and outdoor, area rugs, tabletop and cookware, décor, storage and organization, small appliances, home improvement and more.

“Changing our corporate name to Beyond, Inc. sets us up well for a brighter future,” said Jonathan Johnson, chief executive officer. “As we continue the process of transforming our consumer brand, our new corporate name will help us reach millions of new customers with our advantageous and differentiated, asset-light ecommerce business model. The name ‘Beyond’ emphasizes our commitment to connect new and legacy customers with a wide assortment of products and services.

“Since our founding in 1999, the company has focused on bringing technical expertise to ecommerce and providing a simple and easy experience for consumers and supplier partners. We expect the corporate name change to enhance the awareness of our iconic consumer brand, Bed Bath & Beyond.”

Overstock.com, Inc. will continue to trade on the NASDAQ with ticker symbol OSTK until the close of market on Friday, Nov. 3. Beyond, Inc. will begin trading on the NYSE with ticker symbol BYON when markets open on Monday, Nov. 6. On that day, to celebrate the transfer, representatives of Beyond, Inc. will ring the NYSE Opening Bell at 9:30 a.m. ET.

“We are grateful to NASDAQ for their partnership and support over the years,” Johnson said. “We are thankful to the NYSE for welcoming us to its prestigious platform. We are excited to join many of the world’s biggest consumer brands, as we begin a new chapter in our corporate transformation.”

“We are thrilled to welcome Beyond, Inc. to the New York Stock Exchange,” said Lynn Martin, NYSE President. “Under its new name, Beyond, Inc. joins a world-class community of peers in the retail space at its new listing home, where it can leverage the visibility, unmatched trading platform and other advantages only found at the NYSE.”

For more news of interest to the home furnishings industry, subscribe to Kitchenware News & Housewares Review.

Pottery Barn, Ayesha Curry Team on Sweet July

Pottery Barn, a portfolio brand of Williams-Sonoma, Inc., the world’s largest digital-first, design-led and sustainable home retailer, has launched a collaboration with Sweet July, a lifestyle brand founded by renowned restaurateur, chef, two-time New York Times best-selling author and entrepreneur Ayesha Curry.

Anchored by natural textures, fresh patterns, and earthy tones, the Sweet July by Ayesha Curry collaboration for Pottery Barn features a well-crafted collection of beautiful items for the home.

The new Sweet July by Ayesha Curry x Pottery Barn collection is inspired by summer celebrations and embraces a range of neutral tones with pops of bold and rich terracotta for an elevated, modern look that mix and match seamlessly. From guest-ready bedding and bath accessories to modern barware, table linens, and Calacatta marble serveware and dinnerware debossed with a herringbone pattern, the collection’s thoughtful details celebrate Ayesha’s passion for design and love of al fresco dining.

“Our collaboration with Ayesha Curry has been so organic and inspiring because we share core values of bringing together good people and products through meaningful design,” said CEO of Pottery Barn Brands Marta Benson. “The new Sweet July collection showcases our shared passion for family and beautiful living in the home.”

“It’s been a dream working with the Pottery Barn design team to create a collection featuring products and designs that offer comfort and serenity throughout the home,” said Ayesha Curry, CEO & Founder of Sweet July. “I was inspired by neutral palettes, playing with clean lines and textures that can be mixed and matched in the spaces that mean most to you and your loved ones.”

The Sweet July by Ayesha Curry x Pottery Barn collection debuted for Summer 2023 on May 5 at potterybarn.com/sweetjuly and in select California Pottery Barn stores — the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, the Westfield Galleria in Roseville, and Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek. See the new collection by following @potterybarn and @sweetjuly on Instagram.

Pottery Barn, a member of the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. portfolio of brands, is a premier specialty retailer for casual, comfortable and stylish home furnishings. The brand is dedicated to beautiful ideas for real life, quality products that are crafted to last, sustainability and service. Key product categories include furniture, bedding, bath, rugs, window treatments, tabletop, lighting and decorative accessories. Nearly all Pottery Barn products are designed in-house and are exclusive to its catalogs, stores and website. Pottery Barn operates company-owned stores in the United States, Canada and Australia and has unaffiliated franchisees that operate stores in the Middle East, India, the Philippines and South Korea, and stores and ecommerce websites in Mexico, as well as an ecommerce site at www.potterybarn.com that offers international shipping to customers worldwide. Pottery Barn provides complimentary design services and a comprehensive gift registry program for weddings and other special events. Pottery Barn now offers products for all life stages and every room in the home through Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, and Pottery Barn Teen. Pottery Barn is also part of The Key Rewards, a free-to-join loyalty program that offers members exclusive benefits across the Williams-Sonoma family of brands, the world’s largest digital-first, design-led and sustainable home retailer. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Ayesha Curry is a renowned restaurateur, chef, 2x New York Times bestselling author, producer, host, entrepreneur and was featured on the prestigious Forbes “30 Under 30” list. Her accessible approach to cooking has made her one of the most sought-after experts in food and lifestyle. Ayesha is the Founder and CEO of Sweet July, her burgeoning lifestyle brand with a focus to uplift an inclusive and eclectic array of creators through the products sold and stories shared. In 2019 Ayesha launched Sweet July, a quarterly lifestyle magazine that covers a range of topics such as wellness, fashion, fitness, beauty, entrepreneurism and food. Following the launch of the magazine, Ayesha opened a brick-and-mortar Sweet July storefront and café in Oakland, CA and its accompanying website, featuring thoughtfully created products alongside other carefully selected items from Black-owned and female-founded companies. In 2020, Ayesha launched Sweet July Productions, which focuses on creating content centered around food, family, faith and female empowerment. Most recently, Ayesha served as host and executive producer of HBO Max’s ABOUT LAST NIGHT. In 2022, Ayesha announced Sweet July Books in partnership with Zando. Sweet July Books will acquire fiction and nonfiction work, with a focus on diverse authors and women’s stories. Ayesha, along with her husband Stephen, is the co-founder of Eat. Learn. Play., an organization dedicated to unleashing the potential of every child and making a positive impact for generations to come.

Sweet July is a Black, female-owned lifestyle brand founded by Ayesha Curry. Launched in 2019 with an eponymous lifestyle magazine, Sweet July aims to uplift an inclusive and eclectic array of creators through the products sold and the stories shared. Additionally, Sweet July creates products for the self and home, from pantry essentials to self-care staples. The company opened their flagship store and café in 2021 in the heart of Oakland, featuring products from Sweet July, in addition to Black-owned and women-owned brands, thoughtfully curated by Ayesha and the Sweet July editorial team. Sweet July has also expanded to include a production company, Sweet July Productions, a publishing imprint, Sweet July Books and an online digital platform in sweetjuly.com for quality journalism with profiles, features, recipes and more content from a diverse array of contributors.

For more news of interest to the housewares industry, subscribe to Kitchenware News & Housewares Review.

Universal Electronics Unveils Smart Home Innovations

Universal Electronics Inc., a global leader in wireless universal control solutions for home entertainment and smart home devices, debuted its latest innovations and solutions transforming device and ecosystem control and support experiences at the Consumer Electronics Show. The company showcased how it intelligently connects, controls and supports millions of entertainment and smart home households globally.

QuickSet Cloud provides a scalable platform for simplifying onboarding and control across entertainment and smart home devices and has been adopted by many of the world’s leading brands. With a run rate of over 288 billion transactions annually, this platform has helped customers discover over 1.6 billion devices during 2022. During this period, QuickSet’s discovery and setup capabilities are estimated to have saved TV operators and their installation partners over 4 million hours of programming time by automating the device discovery and set-up process and increasing the automated discovery and set-up success rate of new devices connected to Smart TVs by an estimated 80 percent.

QuickSet is an integral component of major TV and TV operator systems and is the primary solution for easy discovery, setup and control for millions of entertainment and smart home devices. Today, QuickSet smart home services are the technology behind the Home Dashboard of LG TVs and provide a complete and simplified control experience for millions of households. The platform has continuously expanded with new capabilities including enhanced communication protocols, such as Matter, IP, Zigbee 3.0, Zigbee RF4CE, CEC and infrared.

QuickSet is a Matter Certified Software Platform. Matter, announced by the Connectivity Standards Alliance, is a new industry-unifying standard that enables smart devices to work together seamlessly. QuickSet, with the addition of Matter, will benefit from greater interoperability. Additionally, QuickSet 6.0 will bridge non-Matter devices into the Matter ecosystem and enable automation across the whole home, covering existing and newly installed devices.

The company showed its enhanced interoperability features on UEI’s white-label products such as the new UEI TIDE thermostats and its smart home gateway, Nevo Butler. In addition, the company announced the expansion of its Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE connectivity silicon and module line-up with the new bare metal UE51 QuickSet Widget.

As more and more connected products are introduced and expected to work together, the challenge of onboarding, troubleshooting, and supporting all these devices inside the different ecosystems increases. To address this, the company has expanded its device and system knowledge base beyond just control and introduced several services to help consumers.

As part of the company’s commitment to providing customers with the best possible support experience, the company has launched , a turnkey white-label companion app and SDK for onboarding, troubleshooting and controlling its devices. Available as a bundled service on many UEI products, including the new UEI ETERNA remotes and UEI TIDE thermostats, this service helps customers quickly install and set up their devices.

UEI Virtual Agent, an innovative self-service support solution, simplifies device onboarding by allowing customers to seamlessly hand-off the process from a large screen (SmartTV) to a smaller one (mobile phone). With QuickSet integration, UEI Virtual Agent provides automated steps for onboarding, feature discovery and troubleshooting capabilities and is available both as a web-based application and a TV app for integration into existing infrastructures. UEI Virtual Agent, when bundled with a set of UEI NetReady services for remote diagnostics and customer support, will further enhance the support experience for millions of currently deployed products in the home.

“Our software product teams have developed next-generation software services that make connectivity work seamlessly with many platforms and standards in the consumer device industry. We are proud to showcase groundbreaking solutions for consumers and customers that eliminate the headaches associated with everyday connectivity issues,” said Arsham Hatambeiki, SVP of Product and Technology.

For news of interest to the homeware industry, subscribe to Kitchenware News & Housewares Review.

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