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Hunter Douglas receives WCMA Product of the Year Award

The Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA) Product Innovation Awards are the benchmark of excellence in the industry. The 2008 award results were just announced and Hunter Douglas, the largest and most successful window covering company in North America, has once again aced the awards.

The company captured the coveted Product of the Year – for the 10th year in 11 years and for the 13th consecutive year, won more awards than any other manufacturer – an impressive 20 out of the 33 awards conferred went to Hunter Douglas companies. Hunter Douglas also captured 17 of the 24 top awards and swept four of the 11 categories: Shadings and Sheers, Cellular Shades, Wood / Faux Wood Blinds and Merchandising, where a total of seven awards were granted, including one to the industry-transforming International Alliance Conference.

“We’re honored that the Window Covering Manufacturers Association panel of independent judges has given such a strong endorsement to our products and to the marketing, merchandising and education programs we provide,” said Hunter Douglas President and CEO Marv Hopkins. “These results are a testament to the extraordinary dedication of our people to innovation, market leadership and customer service. We’re grateful for these commendations and for the outstanding support of our fabricators and our dealer and designer customers and friends.”

A totally new concept in light control, Pirouette® window shadings won Product of the Year as well as all the awards in the Shadings and Sheer Category: Best New Style Concept, Best New Technical Innovation and Most Innovative Overall Design. Pirouette shadings feature soft adjustable horizontal fabric vanes attached to a single sheer backing. With the gentle pull of the operating cord, textured fabric in delightful colors transforms from what appears to be cascading folds to contoured vanes, allowing an enhanced outside view through the sheer backing.

More specifically, when opened, the top and bottom of each vane shift closer together in the back, creating a soft outward fold and allowing light to filter gently through the fabric sheer and offering a softened view of the outside. When closed, the vanes slide into a flattened position for excellent light blockage and a smooth look similar to that of a classic fabric shade. Vanes can also be partially raised for a gently contoured look that still maintains privacy, or adjusted to different levels for variable light control.
Hunter Douglas also swept the Cellular Shades Category. Ariosa™ fabric for Duette® honeycomb shades walked away with Best New Style Concept. Ariosa is the only soft-hand fabric on the market that offers premium fabric quality and texture with added protection against stains. Ariosa also helps broaden the appeal of Duette shades to younger consumers with its bold colors: Banana Cream, Greenwillow, Mandarin Coral, Cinnabar and Aquamint.

Best New Technical Innovation went to Symphony® Blackout Honeycomb Shades: “The Insulator” from Comfortex Window Fashions, a Hunter Douglas affiliate company. The insulating attributes of this double honeycomb Symphony Blackout fabric is boosted by the addition of an integrated foil lining. This energy smart cellular shade fabric is offered in 15 fashion-forward colors in 10 hardware applications. The ComforTrack™ Energy Saving Sidetrack option further enhances energy efficiency and achieves nearly 100 percent light-blocking capability.

In the new “Green” Products Category, Duette® Architella™ honeycomb shades in the Alustra® Collection garnered Best New Style Concept with Sheer Opalessence™. This award winner offers the aesthetic beauty of a honeycomb sheer without sacrificing light control or energy efficiency. It takes two already distinctive fabrics and pairs them up for a stunning visual effect. The soft, outer Whisper™ sheer allows the sparkle of the inner Opalessence fabric, which contains flecks of natural mica, to subtly shine through. Combined with the superior energy efficiency inherent in the patented Duette Architella honeycomb-within-a-honeycomb construction, this unique product provides more air pockets than traditional honeycomb shades and dramatically increases R-values. The Duette Architella design is also the only honeycomb product to provide exceptional pleat retention for perfect symmetry front and back.

Envision™ Roller Shades featuring the EcoGreen™ Collection from Comfortex were honored with Best New Technical Innovation in the category. These fabrics offer three environmentally responsible features: PVC-free, completely recyclable and LEED Certification
friendly. The PVC-free fabrics contain no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), eliminating the
need for off-gassing and improving indoor air quality. Being recyclable, EcoGreen fabrics are diverted from landfills and reclaimed. Lastly, EcoGreen fabrics may help a total project achieve LEED Certification by contributing toward Energy Performance, Material and Resource Use and Indoor Air Quality, three of the five credit categories needed.

Hunter Douglas Designer Roller Shades won Honorable Mention for Best New Style Concept in the Roman, Pleated and Roller Shades Category. Designer Roller Shades, previously Remembrance window shades, has a new look, new design options and a new name. Three key fabric categories make up the 189-SKU line: Traditional, Natural and Soft, which is the first of its kind in the industry. New design options include a redesigned round bottom bar, decorative bottom bar end caps that function as finials, faux-wood slats and designer tape trims. New lifting systems included an upgraded cordless lifting system, a dual roller and a quiet motor.
Enhancements to Heritance® hardwood shutters were named Best New Style Concept in the Shutters Category. The best and most comprehensive offering in the genuine wood category, Heritance® shutters are now offered in 100 standard colors, including more than 60 artisan-grade paint colors and over 30 rich stains. Custom-color matching is also available. In addition, there is an expanded selection of unframed and framed specialty shapes, two new frames options, a 4 ½” louver and enhanced divider rail specifications.

The only award granted in the Wood / Faux Wood Blinds Category – Best New Style Concept – went to Enhancements to Country Woods® and The EverWood® Collection blinds. These two product lines have been integrated. New common standard valances, designer tassels and specialty shapes allow consumers to mix and match wood and alternative wood throughout the home, while common valance clips, PowerTilt™ with Platinum™ Technology and coordinated selling systems make the programs easier to sell and install. Both collections have been refreshed with valance upgrade options, new slat colors and an expanded assortment of decorative tapes. Country Woods blinds also feature a new TopShield™ II finishing process for the best fade- and moisture-resistance on the market with all the chemical and scratch resistance of the original TopShield finish.

HUNTER DOUGLAS WINS ALL AWARDS IN THE MERCHANDISING CATEGORY
Winning all seven awards in the Merchandising Category, Hunter Douglas’s International Alliance Conference was recognized as Best Trade Education Program. This July conference was the first event of its kind where more than 3,000 Hunter Douglas aligned retail dealer attendees from North America and around the globe along with fabricators, select marketing partners and Hunter Douglas management and product brand teams all gathered together, at the same time and under one roof. More than 4,000 people were in attendance.

The 92,000 square feet of exhibition space was filled to capacity with the most comprehensive presentation of products ever shown at one time. An array of marketing, merchandising and education programs was also showcased. General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), gave the keynote address; other speakers included the Mayor of Denver, top business guru Daniel Burrus, leading design expert Michelle Lamb and retail authority George Whalin.
The Hunter Douglas Learning Center earned Honorable Mention in the Best Trade Education Program Category. This centralized Web-based portal provides Hunter Douglas dealers, designers, installers and fabricators with world-class training and education. It contains and tracks 226 learning options in interactive online, audio, video, written and instructor-led formats to satisfy all learning styles. Since the mid-2007 launch, 4915 learners have completed 18,887 courses.
Designing Windows magazine, Volume 2, won Best Consumer Education Program. This single marketing piece continues to illustrate the beauty, quality and many options of the complete line of Hunter Douglas custom window fashions, while guiding consumers through the selection process. Designing Windows can be customized with a dealer’s information and logo on a letter bound into the spine at the inside cover.

Honorable Mention for Best Consumer Education Program went to the “Save Now, Recycle and Save Again Campaign: Woodwinds® Wood Alloy Blinds Recycling Program” from Comfortex. This program educates consumers about how Woodwinds Wood Alloy Blinds are made of recycled materials, not using any newly cut timber, and can be recycled, thereby helping to save the environment. When the consumer recycles the blind, they are rewarded for their stewardship with a certificate to use on their next purchase of Comfortex product.

The Hunter Douglas Summer Sale Event and Fall 3-in-1 Promotion captured Best Consumer Advertising Campaign and Promotional Program. These two fully integrated marketing programs developed and executed by Hunter Douglas during the important summer
and fall / winter selling seasons offered aligned dealers unique opportunities to increase store traffic and close larger and more profitable sales. Both were advertised in national magazines as well as online on top-performing Web sites and enjoyed high response rates.

The Hunter Douglas 2007 Trade Inserts were named Best Trade Advertising Campaign and Promotional Program. These three multi-page, multi-product / program inserts featuring compelling copy and visuals are created each year to coincide with three key product / program launches. The insert format has become a signature style for the company and capitalizes on cost efficiencies, impact and strong presence afforded the corporate brand as a result of it.

The iMagine™ Design Center – an interactive gallery on hunterdouglas.com that allows consumers to see every Hunter Douglas window fashion in its full-range of colors, fabrics and constructions on windows in customizable room settings – was awarded Best Marketing Technology. The site is unlike other image-rendering tools because it visually displays the effects of light in the room through the window fashion.

Most Innovative Point of Sale Display Program was awarded to the Duette® Architella™ Collection Display Board, which distinguishes Duette shades and Architella asabove the fray by displaying them as art. Featuring artistically arranged removable swatches of both Panache™ and Elan™ fabrics with their unique honeycomb-within-a-honeycomb construction and vibrant colors, it can be used as a counter card or hung on the wall. The board effectively opens up a dialogue between the consumer and dealer.
The Hunter Douglas Designer Roller Shades Sample Book earned Best New Sampling Program and follows a “look, feel, design” theme. Large swatches along with inspiring photography highlight the endless design options. Also included with the book, consumer brochures, Reference Guide section and display shade coupon.

Hunter Douglas, Inc. is the leading manufacturer of custom window fashions in North America and a national sponsor of Habitat for Humanity, covering windows in every Habitat home built in the U.S. and Canada. Headquartered in Upper Saddle River, N.J., the company’s products include Pirouette® window shadings, Silhouette® window shadings, Vignette® Modern Roman Shades, Duette® honeycomb shades, Luminette® Privacy Sheers, The Alustra® Collection, Heritance® hardwood shutters, NewStyle® hybrid shutters, Skyline™ Gliding Window Panels, Country Woods® wood blinds, Provenance® woven wood shades and Designer Screen Shades.

For more information, contact Hunter Douglas at 1-800-274-2985 or visit www.hunterdouglas.com.