Homewares Award Winners Named

Posted by on 21 May, 2010
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The third annual 2010 Homewares Awards, presented by HOMEWORLD BUSINESS® and the National Hardware Show, at the Las Vegas Convention Center on May 5, recognized product innovators that represent the “Best in Class” in the homewares segment of the Hardware Show.

The first awards were held in 2008 to coincide with the National Hardware Show’s first Homewares section, according to ceremony host Peter Giannetti, editor-in-chief of HomeWorld. “We realize housewares is a business that matters in the home improvement channel,” he said.

Cheryl Fishbone, sales executive at Reed Exhibitions said to award nominees: “Thank you to all of the companies for your unique and innovative product. In my eyes, each and every one of you is a winner.” The gold, silver, bronze and honorable mention winners were chosen from 40 nominees.

Deborah Shearer, vp/marketing and merchandising of Organize.com listed the judging criteria: aesthetics, differentiation, fills a consumer need, overall value, and packaging and merchandising support. “The consumers are the final judge; the goal is not to win the design awards, it’s to win the consumer,” added Giannetti.

Judges included Rod Ghormley and Deanna Heck from Shop NBC, Tom Dunbar of ShopKo, Matt Dean of Amazon.com, Brenda Floyd of Big Lots!, Deborah Shearer, Terry Shearer and Allie Wandner of Organize.com, Adam Marland and Sandy Conrad of HSN, Rich Neal of ACE Hardware, Tony Luckie of Storage Sources Group, Warren Tuttle of Monashee Marketing, and Joel Zink.

Neal, senior buyer at ACE Hardware, presented the Homewares Gold Award to HeatTrak for its Heated Outdoor Safety Treads, electrically heated mats designed to prevent snow and ice accumulation on stairs. The heated treads, sold in a set of three, are said to be extremely durable and designed to be left outside for the entire winter season. Each tread has watertight connectors enabling it to connect to additional HeatTrak products. “It is truly an honor to be recognized by experts in the field. I am truly humbled,” said Hillel Glazer, president and CEO of HeatTrak LLC.

“Product differentiation is critical,” said Matt Dean, gm/Tools and Home Improvement at Amazon.com, who presented the Silver award to DewStop for its Fan Switch. The Fan Switch can be used with any residential fan. It features a patent-pending “Condensation Sentry” sensor at the top. The middle button turns the fan on and the bottom button turns the fan off manually. The fan control will turn the fan off for the consumer after 20 minutes. The Condensation Sentry sensor will turn the fan on if condensation presents itself at wall accumulating levels. The sensor brings the condensation level in the room back down and then turns the fan off for the consumer.

Wandner, visual merchandising and e-mail marketing manager of Organize.com presented the Bronze award to E. Mishan and Sons/Emson’s for the EZ Cracker with Yolk Separator. “At Organize.com, we value innovative products for the home; this product really excited me because I would use it in my house every day,” she said. The user places the egg into the EZ Cracker’s cradle and then squeezes both handles together to crack the egg. Then the user inserts the egg white separator into the unit to divide the yolk from the white. The shell is always left behind; so it is said consumers never have to worry about dropped shells, according to the company. The white separator attachment can be used to separate egg whites when preparing egg white dishes, such as egg white omelets and meringues for pies.

Honorable Mention went to CSB Commodities’ The Zipit, which claims to be “the world’s first” automatic clamshell package opener. The Zipit is designed to allow consumers to open difficult blister pack and clamshell packages more easily.

Tony Luckie, executive director of Storage Sources Group, concluded, “I was especially pleased with how many products [submitted] that would work well at retail.”

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