Town & Country bows 'ez clips'

By Cecile B. Corral -- Home Textiles Today, 3/30/2001 12:00:00 AM

NEW YORK -They are called "ez clips" and they are the latest invention in bath accessories to come out of the bath division of Town & Country.

Packaged in a clear rectangular plastic box with a small window, these new clip-on shower curtain rings can be sampled by shoppers "so they can see how easy they are to use," Bonnie Hayes, senior vp of marketing.

Rather than tediously loop curtain rings through the shower curtain holes, "which takes a long time to do", said Frank Scalice, division president, the new ez clips work like hair clips.

"We added a spring mechanism to them, similar to what's done in hair accessories except they are different because they have a hook at the end to hook onto the shower curtain," Hayes said. "It makes it easy to open and close because all it needs is for someone to just apply a little pressure."

The ez clips, which are patented and trademarked, are made of high-pact polystyrene and come in eight frosted colors-ice (clear), lemon ice, mango, raspberry, blueberry, grape, huckleberry (teal) and green apple. Each pack contains 12 clips in a single color. Prince points are $4.99.

"We may do assorted colors per package if retailers want it," Hayes added. "I think anyone currently carrying plastic rings in their lines will use the ez clips as an auxiliary item. It's a decorative ring so we believe it will be for a customer who wants the ease of attachment and who wants a little more fashion at a good price."

The ez clips will be sold under Town & Country's upscale brand, H2O Trends, which is celebrating its one-year anniversary at April market.

"Prior to the introduction of the H2O Trends brand, Bath by Town & Country was positioned primarily in mass market." Scalice said. "Today, we have grown significantly with upscale mass and specialty retailers. Innovative product introductions, like ez clips, not only solidify our partnerships with our current retailers but promote additional interest from other retailers in all channels of distribution."