With DIY and garden retailers constantly evolving and adapting their businesses, many have looked to housewares as a way of diversifying and capturing more consumer spend. To this end, The Housewares Conference is thrilled to be able to address the subject head on at this year's conference.
The final speaker has now been confirmed, garden centre owner and director of GIMA (the Garden Industry Manufacturer's Association) Neil Gow. He will lead a session examining: Garden centres and the role they will play in housewares retailing in the future.

With a similar customer demographic as cookshops (people interested in gardening tend also to be interested in cooking), large destination sites often with restaurants, food halls and ample free parking, housewares appears to be an untapped market for garden centres, whether through concessions, co-locations or product range extension.

Mr Gow has more than 30 years experience in the garden centre market, on both the retail and supply side of the market, so is ideally placed to investigate the potential for housewares in the garden centre sector.

DIY Week publisher Colin Petty said: "The housewares market is one full of opportunities for DIY and garden retailers to extend their product range, develop their sales, increase their average transaction value and footfall and to grow their businesses. The Housewares Conference is packed with thought-provoking business sessions designed to help retailers identify the market opportunities and exploit them."

Mr Gow joins an impressive line up, which already includes:

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, celebrity design guru
Kathy Tierney, CEO, Sur La Table, the fastest-growing housewares retailer in the US
Maureen Dunn, buying director home, John Lewis
Ben Phillips, MD, Steamer Trading Cookshop chain, one of the most respected independent cookshop chains in the UK
Pepita Diamand, retail director and founder, Wrapit, the UK's largest, and most successful, gift list service
Erol Sukan, business group director, GfK Retail and Technology

The inaugural Housewares Conference, organised by DIY Week sister title Housewares Magazine and HousewaresLive.net, has the full backing of the industry's two largest trade associations, the British Home Enhancement Trades Association (BHETA) and the Cookshop and Housewares Association (CHA) part of the BHF group. It is sponsored by: Amefa, Lifestyle Products, Poole Pottery, Royal Stafford, Royal Worcester, Gaggia and Gilberts Food Equipment incorporating Absolut Form.

It takes place at the millennium Mayfair Hotel, on London's Grosvenor Square on April 1.

Delegate places are available now simply visit www.housewareslive.net/conference to download a booking form and for more information about the event itself, or email us at thehwconference@fav-house.com