~ Window Fashions Leader Wins Majority of the WCMA Awards ~
UPPER SADDLE RIVER, N.J., April 21, 2010 –
The Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA) Product Awards are the benchmark of excellence in the industry, and Hunter Douglas has captured more awards than any other manufacturer every year for the past 15 years. The 2010 award results were just announced and Hunter Douglas, North America’s leading manufacturer and marketer of custom window coverings, has once again topped the esteemed competition as an impressive 30 out of the 51 awards conferred went to Hunter Douglas companies. Hunter Douglas also swept the Shadings and Sheers, Verticals/Panel Tracks and Merchandising Categories, where a total of 10 awards were granted. “We’re very pleased that the Window Covering Manufacturers Association panel of independent judges has given such a strong endorsement to our innovative product offerings and to the marketing and sales support we provide,” said Marv Hopkins, Hunter Douglas President and CEO. “As a company, Hunter Douglas is dedicated to market leadership in design, quality and customer service; these results are a testament to that. We’re grateful for these honors and for our many loyal customers throughout the U.S. and Canada.”
As expected, Hunter Douglas captured four awards in the “Green” Products Category.
The latest addition to highly energy efficient Duette® Architella® honeycomb shades, the first and only window shades to qualify for the Federal Energy Tax Credit without add-on insulation systems – the nonwoven, durable Classic fabric in the 3/8-inch pleat size – was named Best New Style Enhancement in the “Green” Products: Energy Efficiency Category. As of May 4, 2010, Duette Architella will have 192 SKUs, comprising more than 40 percent of the Duette line. Vignette® Tiered™ Modern Roman Shades with UltraGlide® won Best New Style Concept in the “Green” Products: Health and Environmental Safety Category. The retractable single cord UltraGlide design offers enhanced child safety, as does the fact that all Vignette shades have no exposed cords on the back side. The UltraGlide system also allows for easy onehand operation and a “click and walk away” feature lowers the shade automatically.
In the “Green” Products: Sustainability Category, Vintage™, one of the new fabrics for
Applause® honeycomb shades collection, which provides legendary Hunter Douglas quality and
a streamlined selection process with exceptional value, captured Best Utilization of Recyclable
Materials. Made using 40 percent recycled polyester fibers from post-consumer textiles, such as
water bottles, Vintage is as beautiful as it is sustainable. It comes in 10 neutral colors and in ¾-
inch and 3/8-inch pleats in semi-opaque and blackout.
Hunter Douglas Roman-style shades with the New Cord Ladder garnered Best Technical Innovation in the “Green” Products: Health and Environmental Safety Category.
This new safety feature, along with modifications to the current lifting system, is designed to
make the rear cords less accessible and thereby reduce the chance of accidental strangulation.
It’s no wonder that in the Shadings and Sheers Category, Luminette® Modern
Draperies Dual Panel was awarded Best New Style Concept. A first in the marketplace,
Luminette® Modern Draperies Dual Panel combines a drapery with a sheer on one operating
headrail. The drapery portion consists of fixed side panels made with woven fabric. The sheer
portion – Luminette® Privacy Sheers – is a knit sheer with fabric vanes that rotate for light and
privacy control. The sheer also traverses open and closed, with either a center opening or side
stack design.
A new fabric for streamlined Nantucket™ window shadings, Sunscreen privacy shadings walked away with Honorable Mention for Best New Style Concept in the Shadings and Sheers Category. Sunscreen privacy shadings are unique to the market because they offer the aesthetics of a screen shade with the light control benefits of window shadings with their rotating fabric vanes. While screen shades offer a singular opacity and openness rating, Sunscreen privacy shadings offer a dual-openness rating of up to 28 percent openness when the vanes are open and 1 percent openness when the vanes are closed. This allows for complete nighttime privacy and daylight control.
Enhancements to Pirouette® window shadings – featuring soft adjustable horizontal fabric vanes attached to a sheer backing – were honored with Best Technical Enhancement in the category. Pirouette shadings will now be available with the PowerRise® 2.0 with Platinum™ Technology system, the most advanced battery-powered wireless motor control system on the market. PowerRise quietly raises and lowers shades while precisely controlling vane tilt. Pirouette shadings will now also be available in specialty shapes. Designed for unique and hard-to-cover arch and angle windows, including trapezoids, ovals, hexagons, octagons and circles, Pirouette specialty shape window shadings was also named Best New Style Enhancement in the Specialty Applications Category. Easy to install, most specialty shapes require no templates for ordering.
In the Motorization Category, PowerRise® 2.0 with Platinum™ Technology, the most
advanced battery-powered wireless motor control system on the market, won Best Technical
Enhancement. Built on the patented Platinum™ Technology platform and operated using the
Platinum remote or wireless wall switch, PowerRise 2.0 quietly raises and lowers shades while
precisely controlling vane tilt for many Hunter Douglas window fashions. Additionally, PowerRise 2.0 systems will easily integrate with most home automation systems, offering the ultimate in control possibilities.
Duette® and Applause® PowerRise® 2.0 with Platinum™ Technology was awarded Best Technical Innovation, Honorable Mention in the Cellular Shades Category. This new PowerRise 2.0 lifting system is now part of the honeycomb family of common headrail premium lifting systems with a fabric-covered valance that comes in more than 120 colors. In addition, the enhanced system can accommodate larger shade sizes – about 10 percent more window area than the previous design – and features better shade aesthetics with the receiver eye now located in the end cap. The fabric stack is also tighter.
The EPIC™ Operating System, which will now set the standard for 2” horizontal blind operation on all Hunter Douglas wood, alternative wood and aluminum offerings, won Best Technical Innovation in the Horizontal Blinds Category. New material selections and component designs on this system offer the most robust construction with improved performance, such as a cord tilter with smooth, silicone-infused gears and a cordlock that provides three times longer cord life as well as easier-to-install brackets.
Best New Style Enhancement in the Roman, Roller and Pleated Shades Category was
awarded to Provenance® Woven Wood Shades Enhancements. Effective May 4, Provenance
woven woods will feature five new opening price point fabrics, including bamboo, reed and
grass designs. Also available among other additions are four new decorative valances – Angled,
Stacked, Double- and Triple-hobbled – that are the perfect complement to any shade.
Reinvigorated /Refreshed Palm Beach™ polysatin shutters walked away with Best Technical Enhancement in the Shutters Category. This excellent, durable product, particularly
suited for areas to moisture, humidity or heavy use, offers increased coordination and cross selling opportunities across the Hunter Douglas Custom Shutter Collection. Louver sizes are now 2 ½-, 3 ½- and 4 ½-inches, consistent with Heritance® shutters and NewStyle® shutters. Refreshed colors coordinate across the collection with four hues. Frames accommodate any application – many coordinating across the line – and are new and improved. Pricing has been simplified. The specialty shapes program includes framed and unframed specialty shapes and no templates are required.
The only prize awarded in the Verticals/Panel Tracks Category, Best New Style
Enhancement went to Skyline® Gilding Window Panels Enhancements. These include the
Boutique collection of fabrics designed to offer a luxury look, at a competitive price with over 40
fabric options organized by style category. Also offered, the Harmony Program™, which
allows the same fabric to be used on multiple product styles, including Skyline window panels,
Designer Roller Shades and Designer Screen Shades. The fabric-wrapped large cassette top
treatment option, now available in the Skyline program, allows even further coordination
possibilities between Skyline and Designer Roller and Screen Shades. Providing solutions for common window covering design challenges, the Harmony Program™ was also named Best Overall Design in the Specialty Applications Category.
HUNTER DOUGLAS WINS ALL AWARDS IN MERCHANDISING CATEGORY
Once again, Hunter Douglas won all awards in the Merchandising Category. The Duette® Architella® Federal Tax Credit Opportunity Integrated Marketing Program was named Best Integrated Marketing Campaign. While the beauty and energy-saving benefits of Duette® Architella® honeycomb shades have fueled its sales success, the addition of a $1,500 Federal Tax Credit opportunity has created a hard-to-resist value proposition for today’s consumers. To generate widespread awareness of the opportunity and entice consumers to take advantage of the potential tax credit, a comprehensive marketing program was launched that includes consumer advertising – centerpiece of which is an eye-catching new TV commercial – direct mail, website support, public relations, point-of-sale materials, and much more. Many Hunter Douglas dealers are reporting significant sales growth for the product and identifying the powerful marketing support as a critical component driving this success.
Best Online Consumer Technology went to the iMagine™ Design Center Upload Your Own photo feature debuting soon on www.hunterdouglas.com. The exciting feature will allow consumers to personalize room settings using their own photos and view all Hunter Douglas products within these rooms. It provides more than 4,500 Hunter Douglas window fashion colors, fabrics and materials.
My Hunter Douglas (My.HunterDouglas.com), the new online door to everything Hunter Douglas has to offer its dealers, fabricators and business partners in a completely personalized online experience, won Best Online Trade Technology. Every Hunter Douglas tool they have access to is there when they log on; they no longer have to remember separate web addresses or passwords. A Hunter Douglas Catalog also offers one-stop shopping for all technical, sales, marketing and training information.
The 2010 Nantucket Sample Book captured Best Point-of-Sale Merchandising. A complete departure from previous positioning of the brand, this new book contains more fabrics, more informative photography and a window display cling that is new to the market. Utilized with large working samples, this cling provides an excellent view of Nantucket window shadings.
Second Place in the category was awarded to the Design Studio™ Roman Shades Merchandising Kit, which is designed to express the simplicity of this new collection. The Sample Book features inspirational photography in the Design Guide, which clearly describes the product and outlines the simple, step-by-step ordering process. Six uniquely designed fabric books signify a clean, fresh approach to fabric sampling. A sophisticated In-Store Sampling Display makes a dramatic retail presence, while the Tote Bag distinctly merchandises the collection in the home.
Designed for storefront and shop-at-home dealers, the Architella® Energy Efficiency Demonstration Kit won Best Point-of-Sale Display. This kit effectively shows consumers how Duette® Architella® shades save energy (and money) in both summer and winter and contains a fabric sample, infrared laser thermometer, lamp (heat source), consumer brochures and “Science Behind the Beauty” DVD.
The 2009 Hunter Douglas Promotional Programs garnered a Second Place for Best
Point-of-Sale Display. These integrated promotions are designed to be easy-to-execute, drive traffic to Hunter Douglas dealers to purchase, motivate consumers who are in-store to purchase and build awareness of the Hunter Douglas brand and sub-brands.
The 2009 programs included the largest Hunter Douglas consumer rebate program ever, Stop the Great Energy Giveaway. This promotion resulted in the highest level of dealer participation and dealer advertising of any Hunter Douglas promotion. Other promotions included the Summer Window Fashions Sale and The Season Of Giving Promotion, designed to capture sales during the important fall selling period.
Best Educational Programs for both consumer and trade were awarded to three
Hunter Douglas initiatives: the Custom Shutter Collection Environmental Brochure, WebEx seminars and E-learning Product Courses. A multi-functional piece, the environmental
brochure gives both consumers and window fashion dealers an inside view on how Hunter Douglas shutter products reduce the impact on the environment through support of energy conservation, waste management and environmental outreach programs. It summarizes four key areas of interest: reduce, reuse, recycle and renew efforts.
Hunter Douglas WebEx seminars are a new way for the company to reach dealers and installers in a timely and interactive manner. Hunter Douglas has installed a webcam that allows participants to see the speakers and also to see the products discussed. They have been able to stream the “under the camera” feature through the WebEx so that they can demonstrate adjustments, repairs and specifics of operations. In addition, they have been able to use the interactive options that WebEx provides such as voting, chat, Q&A, “breakout rooms” and discussion options including dialogue with speakers.
The Hunter Douglas E-learning product courses have taken on a new look. Now, learners follow a customer through the buying process, making choices along the way based on needs. Customer “scenarios” present problems to the learner – privacy, light control, energy efficiency and design preferences – that he/she addresses while gathering information on how the product they are studying can be applied.
Hunter Douglas, Inc, headquartered in Upper Saddle River, N.J., is the leading manufacturer of custom window coverings in North America and a national sponsor of Habitat for Humanity, covering windows in every Habitat home built in the U.S. and Canada.







