Clocks turn beyond time

DSN Retailing Today, August 16, 2004

Once, time passed people by, but time itself seems to have been bypassed as retailers emphasize factors other than the right time to sell clocks.

Clocks sometimes get lost in the shuffle as they straddle differing segments of the home business, being functional items but, to a significant and perhaps growing extent, decorative pieces as well.

Now, that's not to say some people don't want their clocks to be perfectly on time. Clocks linked by satellite to the United States government's atomic clock are popular with the scientifically minded. For those who like accuracy but are a little lazy, Chancy Instrument has a clock that incorporates daylight savings time into its calculations. Rather than a satellite, its "Set and Forget" technology uses a microchip to incorporate time changes for wall and alarm clocks.

Increasingly, though, consumers want more features. For example, major Timex displays at Bed, Bath & Beyond and Linens 'n Things recently offered alarm clocks that provided soothing environmental sounds or played CDs.

But it is in wall clocks where the decorative function takes center stage. At a Carle Place, N.Y., store, Linens 'n Things, offered a range of clocks built into old-time advertising signage for $39.99. Bed Bath & Beyond went positively surreal with a "melting" clock that had a Salvador Dali perspective, but remained coherent enough to provide the time. Wall clocks at this Garden City, N.Y., Bed Bath & Beyond ranged from $9.99 to $89.99.