Christmas in June: Smash cans and garage vacs
The International Housewares Association held its Hot Housewares for the Holidays Products preview show at the New York Hilton June 10.
The show gave manufacturers a chance to show off housewares products, which could be marketed as gift items for the holiday season.
The housewares category has shown growth in the home channel, according to the IHA’s Perry Reynolds, VP marketing and trade development. “Housewares travel across a lot of categories, and independent hardware stores are home-focused businesses,” he said. “There are a lot of categories within housewares that have been a part of that business for a long time: storage, organization, things like that. Why wouldn’t kitchenware be a part of it? Outdoor cooking, indoor cooking -- it all seems to be moving across a number of categories."
Well-known housewares brands like Hoover, Dirt Devil, Bissell and De’Longhi were in attendance showing off their new products, alongside new players like Palm City, Fla.-based InterVac, which introduced a new wall mounted GarageVac. It takes up less wall space than a traditional wall-mounted garage vacuum -- 2.5 ft. as opposed to the traditional 6 ft. It also features a 40-ft. stretch hose that shrinks to 8 ft., as well as an 8-ft. aluminum telescoping wand.
Turkish company UFO is new to the U.S. market and featured its long wave infrared heaters, an economical solution to traditional indoor and outdoor heating. The infrared technology promises instant heat, and is water and weather proof. According to the company, the UFO heater is also energy efficient, utilizing 94% of the energy used to provide heat, as opposed to the traditional heating methods that use only 60% to 65%. It also saves energy by targeting its heat to areas used by people, rather than trying to heat all the air in a house.
Detroit-based WellnessMats introduced its Motif line of anti-fatigue floor mats, which combine comfort, design and style. Originally designed for the Department of Homeland Security and the TSA, WellnessMats is now marketing a series of stylistic floor mats for use in the home. The company also introduced its Maxum industrial strength mat for more heavy-duty work areas, such as the garage.
Atlanta-based Base Brands introduced a new 10.5-gallon stainless steel trash can to its Reduce line of products. The Smash Can is a compacting trash can with a telescoping lid, which allows the user to compact the trash inside without ever touching it. According to the company, the design compacts twice as much household garbage than a typical garbage can.
Springville, Utah-based Friis has introduced a new coffee storage canister, which incorporates the same ventilation technology used in coffee bags. The stainless steel canister helps keep the world’s second largest commodity, after oil, fresh for longer.