The Big ousgwares Show

Zapfel reported most manufac' turers were doing their best to hold the line on prices, despite the continuing pres$.rres of rising production costs. But he added that the overall price level for housewares is up at least 5% from a year ago.

New trends,according to a pre-show zurvey of exhibitors, include an abun' dance of mini deep fat frYers to go along with the greater number of fast food hamburger makers and sandwich

Story at a Glance

Biggest Housewares Show ever . 60,000 attend new products include mini deep fat friers, mini pre$ure cookerc, dispsable magnetic flashlights auto. timers, and heat watcher thermometers.

grills. One manufacturer showed a new unit that cooks two burgers or sand' wiches vertically in the space normally taken by a shgle burger maker: and then it opens for use as a mini fryPan in the horizontal position.

Another manufacturer introduced a "srnall wonder" pressure cookeriwith a two-and-a-half quart capacily, to meet the needs of today's one-or'two person household that makes up the "mini" market. Another unveiled a rotary "roly toaster" that has a mov' ing wire rack to carry the bread between two heating elernents, then ro' tate the toast out from between them when it is ready and slide it off onto a waiting plate or countertop.

Other new houswares geared to s€rve funerica's homemakers' needs includc a tabletop, automatic Push button t'touch command" timer that sm be ;trogrammed for up to 12 dif' ferent on-off operations daily; and an easily-installed "heat watcher" thermostat with a setback control to re' duco honre temperature when the heat is not needed, but increase it rvhen desired.

There is a ceiling plant track with r five swivel hooks for hanging planters and a swivel lamp shade and 6Gwatt gro-lite bulb. One exhibitor showed a portable tv slip-in cabinet vhich holds most 19" sets: it raices the set to con' sole height and enables it to swivel a full 360 degrees. Another has a decor' ative "thermometer" wall clock that tells time in a linear fashionl its 54' inch scale reads much like a mercury thermometer.

A "garden weassl" outdoor tool cultivates and aerates the soil with rotary cutters that have a unique sciscors action to easily uproot weeds and loosen dirt. A 25" fluorescent *stick light" for home lighting is a one-piece, 33-watt unit that eliminates the need for separate fixtures and , special wiring, comes ready to plug in and turn on. F

Finally, as an example of the in'genuity of American housewares in ! coming up with simple solutions to I everyday needs, one manuhcturer F had a disposable magnetic {tastrlight. It comes with a magnetized taPe on the side, so it can adhere to all kinds of steel surfaces and free both hands of the user.

El U,NNING, designing and merF chandising a home center or building materials center is no longer a job for an amateur. The capital in' vestment required demands more than a mediocre store.

Lumberyards all over the country are seeing advantages to consumer retailing and have set out to become home centers. but too often they try to tackle the conversion job them' selves or call in inexperienced advisers. The large investment required makes it essential that the dealer budget properly and spend his money wisely.

Here are several questions any retailer should ask before jumping into a modernization job:

Am I in the right location or strould I consider a new site?

. What lines of merchandise should I stock to meet the demands of my customers?

. How large a building should I build or how many square feet should I add to my present building?

. Should I display paneling, moulding, boards, plywood and dimensional lumber on the salesfloor?

. Do I have'ample parking and what hours should I be open?

Do we have an adequate number of employees and if not where can we find them and how do we train them?

. How do we separate contractor sales from consumer sales?

These are just a few of the operational problems to be considered.

Once you have reached the point of actually beginning the project, it is wise to contact a competent store engineer who knows hardlines/home center/building materials retailing, a specialist in the field you are entering.

A commonly followed procedure, one many dealers take, is to hire an architect or contractor to design the building, properly locate doors, loading docks, offices, etc. and then call in a store designer.

That approach usually means trouble. The real first step should be to determine the lines of merchandise

Story at a Glance

Some of the hundreds of ques' tions that must be asked before a conversion to the home center concept should be begun included are ideas to save you time, money and headaches.