| A record 82 new products were submitted in 11 product categories for consideration in this year's Product Innovation Awards program sponsored by the Window Covering Manufacturer's Association (WCMA). The WCMA awards recognize significant product advancements in the window coverings industry and help highlight the important services and products it provides.
Each product submitted by a manufacturer either had been introduced within the previous calendar year (1998) or was introduced at the International Window Coverings Expo in Atlanta, GA, last month where the winners were announced and displayed.
Product submissions ranged through categories that included draperies, alternate treatments, specialty applications, drapery hardware and merchandising. For each category, entries vied for distinction as Best New Technical Innovation, Best New Style Concept, Most Innovative Overall Design and Best New Safety Innovation. As in past years, a winner was not necessarily chosen for each award in every product category. Products were judged based on creativity, aesthetic appeal and potential for success-after all, the bottom line is the bottom line.
TOP HONORS
Product of the Year honors went to Hunter Douglas Window Fashions, Upper Saddle River, NJ, for its Beyond Woods[TM] hardwood horizontal blinds, probably the hottest selling product category around these days. The Hunter Douglas line features North American hardwood components with a lifetime warp-free guarantee. The blinds also are available with the company's de-Light[TM] feature, which eliminates route holes for complete privacy and light control.
Of particular note, however, are the new finishes available on the blinds made possible by a proprietary finishing process that has created 36 designer-driven wood and faux wood effects. These finishes range from rich burls to bird's-eye and weathered patterns.
Hunter Douglas also received Honorable Mention for Product of the Year for its Duette® EasyView[TM] moveable arch. The proliferation of arch-top windows in the home building industry has created quite a market for operable treatments to cover both perfect (half circle) and eyebrow arches. Not all products fit the bill while remaining fully operable. With EasyView, a sliding handle moves horizontally across the bottomrail to raise or lower the shade without the need for side tracks. It can be operated easily by hand or, in hard-to-reach windows, by use of an extension pole.
Safety is an important issue for the window coverings industry and Levolor Home Fashions, High Point, NC, was cited for Safety Innovation of the Year honors. It achieved this distinction for incorporating its cordless technology across its product line from pleated shades to aluminum and wood blinds. A spring motor activation system in the headrail replaces pull cords, eliminating the possibility of accidental entanglement or injury.
HIGHLIGHTS
A number of products in each category stood out and deserve mention. See the accompanying list for a complete rundown of winners.
As mentioned above, safety features were incorporated into many new window coverings products. Winning Best New Safety Innovation Awards were the Levolor cordless wood blind in the Wood Blinds and Shadings category, the LaserGuard and bracket designed to keep chain and cord loops taut from All-Teck PTB, Quebec, Canada, in the Verticals category, and Nantucket[TM] from Hunter Douglas in the Alternative Shading Products category for a safety cord release built into its headrail. Kirsch was sited as Best New Technical Innovation in the Alternative Shading Products category for introducing cordless technology to its Romanette cordless Roman shades.
The Danielle custom insertion blind from BlindVisions LLC, Alpharetta, GA, won Best New Style Concept and Most Innovative Overall Design in the Horizontal Blinds category. The blinds feature a groove along the top and bottom of each slat that allows laminated fabrics, wallpaper and even photographs to be inserted to create a completely custom look. Route holes are placed along the back edge of the slats so as not to interfere with inserts yet ensure tight closure and total privacy.
The No-Sew Roman Bars from RollEase, Inc., Stamford, CT, was cited for Best New Technical Innovation in the Specialty Applications category along with Silhouette® with PowerRise® from Hunter Douglas. The No-Sew Roman Bars increase the ease of fabricating Roman shades by wrapping fabric around an inner rod and sliding an outer sleeve over it. Adjustable loops provide places to attach the necessary cording to create straight pleats on the shade without the need for buckles, pockets and stitches.
Also in the Specialty Applications category, Facades[TM] cornices, valances and moldings from Hunter Douglas garnered Best New Style Concept honors. Facades is fabricated out of extruded polystyrene and offered in five designs with a deeply carved look and the definition of traditional materials.
Manufacturers also kept installers and the contract market in mind when designing new products. In the Pleated and Roller Shade category RollEase was awarded Best New Technical Innovation for its Contract Series Deluxe Manual Roller Shade. The shade's headrail features a pin-end bracket with a
built-in leveling screw that helps position the roller exactly level during installations without shimming.
Of course, none of these new products does anyone any good if they just sit in a warehouse or store room, so a host of merchandising programs, point-of-sale displays, advertising campaigns and dealer incentives were submitted that help-even entice-sales. In the end it is the retailer who benefits by offering end-users a fuller range of beautiful, well designed and safe window coverings products.
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| April '99