Inside view: Shower doors vs. curtains

To kick off our "Showrooms as sales tools" series, we take a look on Page 72 at how two retailers use individual displays to upsell customers on everything from glass to hardware. Future articles will address floor layout, lighting and design, location, sales props and showroom personnel, among other topics. If you'd like to share your successful showroom strategy with Glass Magazine readers, write me at jchase@glass.org.

When promoting bypass sliding shower doors, consider pointing consumers to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times about the toxic effects shower curtains can have on their health.

Vinyl shower curtains sold at major retailers across the country emit toxic chemicals that have been linked to liver damage, as well as damage to the central nervous, respiratory and reproductive systems, reported Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Tami Abdollah, June 13, www.latimes.com. The findings are the result of a study by the Falls Church, Va.-based Center for Health, Environment & Justice to determine what caused that "new shower curtain smell" familiar to many consumers, Abdollah reported.

Researchers tested the chemical composition of five unopened polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, plastic shower curtains bought from Bed Bath & Beyond, Kmart, Sears, Target and Wal-Mart, according to the article. One of the curtains was then tested to determine the chemicals it released into the air. "One of the curtains tested released measurable quantities of as many as 108 volatile organic compounds into the air, some of which persisted for nearly a month," Abdollah stated.

-Submitted by Mark Pritikin, president, Creative Mirror & Shower, Addison, Ill.