Jim Becker
02-26-2005, 7:28 PM
Dr. SWMBO and I ventured forth to the Suburban Home Show in Ft. Washington today to check out this and that. Like most shows, there were the usual vendors hawking big, fluffy synthetic chamois, "unbelievable" floor brooms and all kinds of what-not in between the more focused booths...which at this show would in my mind be things like windows, HVAC, roofing, water treatment, landscaping, etc.
The one vendor that caught my eye and produced a smile was an outfit called, "Tomboy Tools"...featuring, yep, tools..."designed by women for women". Actually it's a neat idea in that some were scaled a little differently than the common implements on the shelves and walls at the local big-box tool coral. With more and more women being seriously involved in home improvement and woodworking, having some new choices that may (or may not) be more comfortable to use is a good thing. I wonder if innovative companies like this will ever be able to get broad enough distribution to get beyond just the show floor and into the mass market stores?
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One material I was very impressed with was the cultured stone veneers that a number of vendors were showing. These products really do look and feel like the ream McCoy, yet should be less expensive to install since the structure of anything carrying the stone veneer is often merely common concrete/cinder block. They also indicated that the product could be made to match very closely the native stone in an area...something of interest to me to allow a unifying theme between our existing limestone structure and some potential future improvements.
The one vendor that caught my eye and produced a smile was an outfit called, "Tomboy Tools"...featuring, yep, tools..."designed by women for women". Actually it's a neat idea in that some were scaled a little differently than the common implements on the shelves and walls at the local big-box tool coral. With more and more women being seriously involved in home improvement and woodworking, having some new choices that may (or may not) be more comfortable to use is a good thing. I wonder if innovative companies like this will ever be able to get broad enough distribution to get beyond just the show floor and into the mass market stores?
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One material I was very impressed with was the cultured stone veneers that a number of vendors were showing. These products really do look and feel like the ream McCoy, yet should be less expensive to install since the structure of anything carrying the stone veneer is often merely common concrete/cinder block. They also indicated that the product could be made to match very closely the native stone in an area...something of interest to me to allow a unifying theme between our existing limestone structure and some potential future improvements.