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HGA UNWRAPPED | Friday Home & Gift Industry Round-Up | 23 October 2026
The Friday Home & Gift Industry Round-Up
HGA UNWRAPPED
Your weekly look at what's happening across retail, home, gift and everything in between.
Friday 23 October 2026
Put the kettle on. It's Friday, Christmas is getting closer, and there's plenty happening across retail.
This week brings a slightly mixed picture: shoppers are feeling cautious, September retail sales dipped, physical stores are still attracting investment, Halloween is becoming a bigger commercial moment and technology continues to change the way retailers operate.
Here's what caught our eye, and more importantly, what it means for Home & Gift.
Retail & Consumer Confidence
Shoppers are feeling the pressure
Retail sales volumes in Great Britain fell 0.4% month-on-month in September, with household goods retailers experiencing a 0.5% fall. Online-dominated non-store retailing fell 2.2%.
Separately, the British Retail Consortium's latest Consumer Sentiment Monitor says consumer confidence has fallen ahead of the Budget.
Sources: The Guardian | British Retail Consortium
The HGA Take
This reinforces something we've been talking about for some time: value isn't the same thing as cheap.
For Home & Gift businesses, demonstrating design, quality, provenance, usefulness and emotional value becomes even more important when customers are questioning every purchase.
At Christmas, the winning question may not be "How cheap is it?" but "Is this worth giving?"
The High Street
Physical retail is still very much alive
Waitrose has opened its first new supermarket in eight years as part of its £1bn investment programme, while kitchenware specialist ProCook has taken a 2,241 sq ft store in Derby's Derbion shopping centre.
Meanwhile, Retail Gazette reports that Build-A-Bear Workshop is planning a store experience inside London's Hard Rock Cafe.
Sources: Retail Appointment | Retail Gazette
The HGA Take
For a sector built around discovery, touch, storytelling and beautifully merchandised products, stores still have a powerful role.
Customers might arrive looking for one gift.
What we really want is:
"I'll just have a look..."
Five minutes later:
"Actually, I'll take the candle too."
Retail magic.
Seasonal Opportunities
Is Halloween becoming another gifting season?
Here's one Home & Gift businesses should watch.
IGD research cited by Retail Gazette found 36% of shoppers planned to celebrate Halloween in 2026, compared with 27% in 2025. Of those celebrating, 46% intended to decorate their homes.
Faire has also seen the number of Halloween-themed products on its marketplace rise from 425 in 2021 to 2,632 in 2025, with decorative trees, wreaths and ornaments among the growth areas.
Source: Retail Gazette
The HGA Take
We're fascinated by the continuing expansion of the gifting calendar.
Halloween isn't simply costumes and sweets anymore. Home decoration, entertaining and seasonal products potentially give suppliers and retailers another opportunity to create theatre, excitement and reasons to visit.
And yes, apparently Halloween trees are now a thing.
Retailers really didn't need another tree to merchandise, but here we are.
Technology & Innovation
AI moves further into retail
Primark has announced the use of AI technology in its supply-chain decision-making, another sign of how rapidly artificial intelligence is becoming part of mainstream retail operations.
Source: Retail Gazette
The HGA Take
For smaller Home & Gift businesses, the opportunity isn't necessarily about implementing huge technology programmes.
It's worth asking:
What repetitive work could technology take away so your people can spend more time on the things customers actually value?
Relationships, creativity, buying, product development and customer service still matter enormously.
Technology should help people do more of that, not simply give everyone another dashboard to look at.
Industry Recognition
A good week for Homeware
A little celebration to finish.
OKA was named Homeware Retailer of the Year at the 2026 Retail Gazette Retail Excellence Awards, held on 14 October, while Wolf & Badger took Fashion Retailer of the Year, Boots won Beauty Retailer of the Year and Our Coop was named Sustainable Retailer of the Year.
It's always good to see great retail, brilliant teams and innovation being recognised.
Source: Retail Gazette Retail Excellence Awards
The HGA View
It's all about giving customers a reason to choose
If there's one theme running through this week's stories, it's reasons to choose.
When consumers are cautious, businesses need to give them a reason to choose the independent over the algorithm.
A reason to choose one product over another.
A reason to visit a shop rather than simply scrolling.
A reason to spend £25 on something thoughtful rather than £20 on something forgettable.
For Home & Gift, that's where our industry's strengths really come into their own:
| Great products | |
| Brilliant storytelling | |
| Creativity | |
| Experience | |
| Curation | |
| Community | |
| Human connection |
Price will always matter.
But meaning matters too.
And thankfully, that's something the Home & Gift industry knows rather a lot about.
Have a brilliant weekend.
HGA UNWRAPPED
Your Friday fix of Home & Gift industry news.
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