Nostalgia was a comfort to homebound consumers during the pandemic, and those beloved brands are finding new life in licensed housewares.

That much was clear this past weekend when the housewares industry returned for the Inspired Home Show in Chicago after a three-year hiatus. The event saw a surge of licensed properties either entering the category for the first time or extending their reach.

Yet amid the line extensions and new licensing deals was a dose of reality. Most suppliers at the show continue to struggle with shipping issues and rising costs that are expected to carry through the balance of this year.

Most reported continued shipping delays of up to 60 days and were seeking to bring inventory for the fall season in by May-June instead of the more typical July-August as a hedge against logistics issues.  And nearly all suppliers have raised prices with little pushback so far from retailers or consumers. For example, Mi DIY raised its prices 15-20%, which brought the Ginsu grill’s retail to $599, about $100 more than originally expected, said president Jeremy Cantor.

“We’re all adjusting to the new normal, which for now means higher prices and shipping delays, so we have to plan accordingly this year,” Cantor said.

Many suppliers appeared to be seeking to offset those logistics issues by focusing on known quantities with a proven cache. RL Industry, for example, is targeting the likes of Dollar General and Walmart with licensed opening price point Oreo products after acquiring the premium Baker’s Secret brand of bakeware in 2020. This marks the first time the Mondelez International label has ventured into housewares.

And General Mills revamped the Betty Crocker brand to appeal to younger consumers (think 30- to 40-year-olds with young children) and shifted the U.S. license to Browne Group from Bradshaw Home. Browne’s Betty Crocker products—an array of 40 SKUs stretching across bakeware and kitchen gadgets—will launch in the fourth quarter and target grocery chains that already carry the brand’s baking products, said Jensena Parish, director of marketing and product development.

“I think people and properties are reinventing themselves after Covid to be in line with modern-day trends, whatever that looks like,” Parish said, whose company has a license with Canadian celebrity chef Chuck Hughes (Chuck’s Day Off series on Food Network in Canada) for products exclusivity sold in Canada through retailer Hudson’s Bay Co. “It can’t look the same as it did before, so it’s rebranding and adding products to an assortment to meet consumer trends.”

Those trends include a renewed interest in celebrity chefs and cooking shows for licensing, both of which had a much smaller presence at the last in-person housewares show in 2019. Gibson extended its licensing agreement with Andrew Rea, the chef behind the popular Babish YouTube series, from kitchen prep items to include cookware.

Entertaining maven Martha Stewart, meanwhile, conducted a cooking demonstration to promote her three-year-old deal with Gibson. But that celebrity cache is expected to extend beyond chefs this year. TableTops Unlimited, which expanded its Dolly Parton dinnerware collection to include an exclusive seasonal line with Hobby Lobby during the pandemic, is broadening distribution this year and extending the line to include cookware and water bottles.

“There’s little doubt that the cooking shows, and the celebrity chefs that are part of them, benefited from homebound consumers—many whom adopted cooking as a new hobby,” said SCS Direct CEO Howard Greenspan, whose company has taken over the MasterChef Junior license from Jazwares with a ranger of cooking kits including those for Pizza and breakfast. “Whether that will hold true as we move to a post-pandemic world remains to be seen and there are still many unknowns out there.”