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Show IHl(3)iiosei7a!i,os 'sEmdiv Row omi Itoofts, 5iniinivatjDd)inl By KAREN E. KLAGES Chicago Tribune As far as aweCHICAGO some innovation goes, this was not a stellar year for house- wares manufacturers, who en masse this assembled for their annual show January and tell aka the Housewares International Show, held at McCormick Place. "For years now, the search for a power marketing strategy is the main thing I've so than the latest color trend," says Katherine De Sousa, a Connecticut-based- , independent product designer. "A company's focus is more on a strategy for going global or for going into new product areas." Indeed, no hot, new color stole the show, which welcomed 2,005 exhibitors and some 17,000 visitors. Nor were any . seen,-mor- earth-shatterin- g, genre-typ- e products (along the lines of the food 6r bread processor machine) introduced. The hits among the estimated 70,000 new products that were shown here, tended to be those products that took an existing good idea and expanded upon it. The misses did the same, except that they took those good ideas to unnecessary and sometimes ridiculous levels. Take a look at some of our favorites among the good and bad, which either hit the mark or veered badly: HIT: An exciting garbage disposal reads like an oxymoron. How can a waste-chew-- er get anybody fired up? The answer When it is powered by water, not electricity. When it is designed to process the most forbidden kitchen waste celery, banana peels, corn husks, nut shells, chicken bones and even a broken bottle, including the metal cap, if they fall in by accident. And when the thing comes with a warranty. The Hydro-Mai- d disposal was one of the few revolutionary ideas that surfaced at the show. Powered entirely by water, the Hydro-Mai- d operates with normal household water pressure and no electricity at all, but does not demand signif 10-ye- ar Cbs"5 QWBW0O' AMERICA S Icrgesl rejected in ;,j no-n- d e 8. ager at Aurora-base- ker. North d anti-bacteri- al Iron-Hol- (50-coun- t, 30-gall- 56-cou- drawstring all with the treatment. Find them this spring at mass merchant and hardwarehome center stores. bags . A demitasse of piping hot should take time to espresso make. It should not be tainted by our microwave" world. And then we tasted it. A pipof the dark ing hot, Dixie cup-fustuff made in less than 2 minutes in Black & Decker's new Expresso Mio. It was excellent. "I was skeptical at first too," says Stuart Naft, manager of industrial design and outside services for the U.S. Household Products Group at Black & Decker. Even the handle on the Expresso Mio, continues Naft, was designed to look like a traditional, stovetop espresso-makell That's right. You're lying in bed, reading a book and just a tad too warm. No need to get up. Just grab the remote and click yourself into a cool oblivion. Turn it on. Turn it off. Change the temperature by increments. The air conditioner also comes with an automatic timer and two independent motors one for the indoor fan, which one for the outdoor fan makes the unit run especially quiet, thus the name Library Quiet air conditioners. Somehow, in a living or family room, a air conditioner seems like vice, like another ingredient t( feed the ultimate Couch Potato But in a bedroom, which shoulc be the room of great pamper ing, it feels like a nice luxury. HIT: Sharp Electronics Library Quiet air conditioners have suggested retail prices o Corp. introduced remote-contre $459.95 to $599.95, depending technology to its line of room air conditioners on the power level capacity. Al e being the right size for will be available in February most bedrooms. Call for dealers. American Plastics Corporation, which showed several lines of bags. Our point: Who cares? A landfill? more germ-fre- e d and Bags (called Perfect Scents) range in price from $1.99 to $2.99 tall kitchen bags) and $3.99 to $4.99 drawstring bags; or (36-cou- HIT: It seemed like another oxymoron: a microwave espresso-ma- maker of all those Good Grips kitchen gadgets, has gone too far with its new Good Grips Kitchen Clips. They are fine magnetic clips. They deftly pin a note onto a refrigerator door or seal a plastic bag. But they don't need the wizardry of Good Grips, that wonderful, ergonomically designed soft handle that has eased kitchen work for countless people with arthritis or anybody, for that matter. Good Grips makes sense on can openers, vegetable peelers, paring knives and any number of kitchen prep products. It doesn't on clips. Kitchen Clips will be available in February at major retailers and specialty stores and will sell for $5.99 for a and dish towels to garbage bags. We draw the line at those garbage bags. The point is to "inhibit the growth of germs, mold and mildew that comes into contact with the bag " explains Barbara Paul, product marketing man- anti-bacteri- al four-pac- remote-controll- I ol mid-siz- d OXO MISS: New CAN be too has proven there much of a good thing. OXO, the York-base- mid-siz- 6 MONTH NO PAYMENTS NO INTEREST r. The Expresso Mio, which makes two shots at a time, uses rapidly rising steam to brew the espresso just like traditional stovetop makers. But it's easier and faster than the stove-top- s and great for offices and college dorm rooms. And it's certainly less of an investment than the big pump machines. Expresso Mio will be available in May with a suggested retail price of $19.99. For $29.99, it conies with a manual, milk frother. Call pump-styl- e Black & Decker's hot line, to find out stores that will carry it. 6, MISS: Germophobia must be or at least housewares manufacturers are banking on such hysteria. Products with properties blanketed the show from antibacterial sponges, cutting boards LPULd: r anti-bacteri- !i ! !; (2) ? OiiBXD LtiXF j J rjrc-- i . J"Ct full i:; ruths purchased. on the rise ltt4 I CWyH j .i m .14 ec k. LetJiolmes Jeat Tour BY. DESIGN Jiome Holmes ' Sweating Q.'Coo tai most hons surlier icantly more Water than an electric unit. It also runs quieter than the electric disposals. For most people, though, the key feature is that it grinds waste much finer than standard electric units. The bottom line: Your pipes won't clog because you threw a o down the disposal. Hydro-Maiwas developed by NASA engineers and has been refined and tested over a period of 15 years. It costs $299 (installation not included), minus a $60 rebate and is available by calling SVSTEMS SPtOM ISTS BATHROOM r REMXEUNG tJl!fCE "" 760-41S- 1 IN 19?L, Smal4 701 S. 1 T Michael R. Hamm "OAC. Minimum $1,500 purchase i A . ,i Ststa St Uh! win I li I I t 1 I 1 I I 1 1 I 1 I 1 J jj |