Over-the-door organizers on the rise; no-installation racks are a big hit with renters - Home Products: Housewares

Discount Store News, Jan 6, 1992

Over-the-Door Organizers On the Rise

With the percentage of renters in the United States increasing, over-the-door storage organizers that require no installation appear to be an emerging category.

Over-the-door (OTD) mounting is instantaneous and makes none of the holes that landlords frown upon, said Tom Winders, sales director for Lee/Rowan.

Over the past year or two, Lee/Rowan, St. Louis, has added seven skus of OTD organizers to its offerings and already they have jumped to the top 20 best seller list of products in its 600 sku lineup, Winders said.

The new OTD skus include two sizes of utility hooks, one with six prongs for hanging such items as towels, and the other with a rack for holding items such as household cleansers. These will retail between $10 and $12.

For the bath, Lee/Rowan has introduced two OTD towel racks. A tubular steel version with five wire bars retails for about $15, while an all-wire version with four bars retails for about $12, Winders said.

Although meant for temporary mounting, the Lee/Rowan OTD racks can be installed permanently by snapping off the over-the-door hanging brackets, Winders said.

Clairson, Ocala, Fla., also has jumped on the OTD bandwagon, adding seven skus of OTD organizers to its Closet Maid line.

The OTD line includes an 18-pair shoe rack, a curved, four-bar towel rack, two utility racks with basket trays, a rack of six hooks and a curved, fold-away hang bar and a tubular closet hang rod. Suggested retails range from close to $5 for the hang bar to about $38 for a six-basket utility rack for the pantry.

The Closet Maid products also feature removal tabs for permanent installation.

Closet Maid will introduce three more OTD products at the Housewares Show next week - a half-size ironing board, an iron caddy to store an iron and a conventional folded ironing board, and a tie and belt rack.

Sales of lower-priced stamped steel from Hirsh and plastic garage shelving from Contico are doing well.

"OTD represents an emerging category for the industry," said Rob Clemmons, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Clairson.

Another example of the OTD trend comes from Crawford Products, West Hanover, Mass. Designed to hang OTD, the Hideaway Workbench includes a fold-down workbench adjustable for different door heights and a pegboard for storing tools.

The workbench folds away for storage. The workbench retails for about $40, while the pegboard hooks are sold separately, said sales manager Bill Pestone.

Crawford introduced the workbench at last year's Hardware Show and began shipping last September. Home centers bought all available production capacity for 1991, Pestone said, but 1992 production will permit shipments to mass merchants. Jacks, Quincy, Ill., is the first discount store customer.

Storage organizers are a discretionary purchase, said Scott Bannell, vice president, marketing for Stanley's hardware division. Stanley makes upper-end, steel-plank closet organizers retailing from about $49 to $149. "Life can continue to go on without purchasing certain items, such as organizers," Bannell said. Aisle traffic in organizers is lower than last year. Consequently, basic wire organizers are selling better than higher-priced kits.