The Board of Directors of the American Hardware Manufacturers Association (AHMA) unanimously voted to positively change its direction relative to the 2005 AHMA Hardware Show. AHMA will proactively focus on creating alternative, optimally valuable and relevant events for its members and its industry in response to recent developments and evolutionary changes of the home improvement industry which dramatically, negatively impacted the Hardware Show for the past several years. No further details are currently available. | |
Demographics, an aging population and rising home ownership, is partly behind the increase in garden-related spending, but the real driver for growth is the consumers' passion to reconnect with the natural world.
As contemporary American culture becomes more "virtual" computerized and electronic, consumers feel a growing need to ground themselves in the real world, a trend which is finding expression in the garden as consumers divide their yards into different "outdoor rooms." They are inviting wildlife, including birds, bats, turtles, frogs and exotic fish, into increasingly elaborate garden getaways where they escape from the modern world and connect with the sounds, smells and sights of nature. |
Demand for packaged lawn and garden consumables, which include fertilizers, pesticides, growing media, seeds, mulch, and other related products, is expected to grow 4.5 percent per year through 2008 |
