a mighty wind - ozone air purifier

You can make fun of its spinning nose
Hair clippers and auto glasses cleaner, but don't mess up Sharper Image's $350 ion Breeze Quadra static air purifier.
The retailer sued three manufacturers for patent infringement and two other manufacturers for slander, and the respected regulator of the Consumer Union issued a pair of bad reviews.
The purifier product line is the top source of revenue for Sharper Image and may account for 5 to half of the company's revenue.
The chain's performance was excellent: six consecutive quarters of growth, revenue growth of 26% last year, to $0. 674 billion, revenue growth of 59%, to $25 million.
Richard Thalheimer, founder and chief executive, said: "We are no longer just a gift shop . "
Only one question: Ion breeze, 2-foot-
Slender electricity
According to "If you are the one", the static room air purifier does not work very wellfor-
Alliance of profit Consumers
It tested the device and 15 other purifiers for the February 2002 edition of the consumer report and put the breeze at the end, saying it was "proven not impressive" and "removed very little
" Sharper Image launched an offensive that challenged the approach of the Consumer Alliance test engineer.
An important criterion is how fast the machine cleans the room.
"It's like a car salesman telling you that Corvette is the best because it's fast," Thalheimer said . ".
The ion breeze works slowly, uses less energy than its competitors, and remains the same all the time.
The consumer report re-discussed the category in the October 2003 issue, acknowledging that there were Sharper Image complaints in the sidebar and having the machine run for 17 hours.
The breeze climbed a gap.
It is ranked second from bottom.
The clearer image immediately sued the Consumer Union in the San Francisco federal district court, claiming that it maliciously fabricated the results and claiming that it had changed the graphics to make the data look worse.
The lawsuit says the Consumer Union's motivation is "disappointment and shock" as the product is still selling well.
Taylor of nature
The born follower, whose grandfather founded the Blass department store chain in Arkansas, admitted that the suit was a p. r. risk.
"Maybe it's a long process, but I think we 've seen a lot of institutions being exposed as less direct in the past two years, from Catholic Church to the New York Stock Exchange . "
Hearing scheduled for mid-dayJune.
Speaking of his opponents, consumer League lawyer Steven Williams said, "It's a very strange, very litigation-loving company.
" Consumer Alliance in its 86-year history.
In the 1970 review of the tepid sound of the Bose speaker, it was lost only once.
But 14 years later, the verdict was overturned --
Reasons for American speechS. Supreme Court. A high-
The personal file case filed by Suzuki Motor Company is still pending.
When he's there, maybe he should be in a short time.
Sellers across his company.
The short position of 3 million shares reached 23% of the public offering of shares.
Short sellers let retailers take on the task of inventory growth last year, up 47% faster than sales. (
The company says the difference is due to the need for inventory in the 50 stores that have increased since 2002. )
Last year, almost all of the company's $79 million non-catalog marketing budget was used to support the Purifier Series;
Half of the money was spent on the advertising campaign hosted by Taylor's own.
The electrostatic chamber air purifier charges dust, dandruff and particles with negative ions in the air.
When the air is circulating in the machine, the particles are stuck on a metal plate with positive electricity.
Unlike most other air purifiers, Sharper Image travels through static electricity to move air without a fan.
Brookstone and Honeywell International have recently launched their own static air purifiers, which are cheaper than the ion breeze.
Sharper Image is suing the two companies and another manufacturer for violating their patents.
Sharper Image also sued Swiss IQAir for referring to the Consumer Union report in the brochure.
IQAir retaliates by testing the amount of ozone produced by electrostatic cleaners. (
Ozone is harmful to asthma patients. )
IQAir's tests show that pollution in some models, including the ion Breeze Quadra, exceeds safety standards.
Sharper Image says its machine is proven to be safe.