Manufacturers Offer
Twists on Older Items

In the real-estate development business, good times don't encourage big changes. After four years of strong sales, the housing industry isn't offering major new innovations like the talking refrigerators General Electric introduced in 2000 or the sound-muffling walls of 2001 -- concepts that never exactly took off. So at this year's International Builders Show, an annual gathering of more than 100,000 builders and architects that ended last week in Orlando, Fla., the mood was conservative and the emphasis was on adding on new frills, rather than new functions, to home amenities.

These days, "people would rather buy things that feel familiar," says Mike Lear, a Bonita Springs, Fla., developer who is shopping for a handful of Gulf Coast communities his company expects to open this year.

Since builders make their fattest profit on options, the bells and whistles the manufacturers did add were often pricey. Jacuzzi Inc.'s 2005 two-seater spa, for example, doesn't offer new features (colored-light "illumatherapy" was introduced last year), but it is designed by a sportscar designer, shaped like a topless white egg -- and costs about $22,000. It's the most expensive tub without a TV that Jacuzzi makes.

Bubble bath: Jacuzzi's $22,000 'Alpha' bathtub is one of its most expensive ever.

Molding With a Twist: Although it doesn't appeal to purists, plastic molding has been gaining acceptance for years in the home-building industry, since it's lighter, cheaper and easier to install than woodwork. But it still had to be custom-made for unusual shapes like arched windows, a process that could take weeks. Flex Trim Inc.'s new "Xtrulinear Molding," which will be available to consumers and professionals, comes on a spool, bends and can be sliced off at whatever length is needed. Of course, it's still plastic, but at a cost of less than $30 a foot (sometimes much less, depending upon the design), it's about 70% less expensive than handcrafted wood, the Redlands, Calif., company says.

Fresh Clothes: The fabric-care business is a growth area for some appliance manufacturers that are seeing the higher costs of steel eat into profits from traditional products. This spring, Whirlpool Corp. rolls out a "Fabric Freshener"; the appliance will be available to consumers at Best Buy and on Whirlpool's Web site for $219. The portable cabinet, which looks something like a large garment bag, releases heat and steam to reduce wrinkles and eliminate odors from clothes hung on a rack inside. It freshens fabrics, including silk and rayon, without shrinking, the Benton Harbor, Mich., company says. The "freshening" cycle takes about half an hour to complete, and leaves clothes with a "casual press." There are downsides: The unit handles a skimpy two garments at a time, and won't remove stains.

Sculptural Spas: With music, television and bubbling massage already common in whirlpool baths these days, there's not much a spa-maker can do to upgrade features. That leaves design. So Jacuzzi, which is based in Dallas, looked to the luxury auto industry to bring a sleek futuristic look to the bath. Partnering with Pininfarina, designer of Ferraris, the company came out with three highly stylized whirlpool baths called the Alpha (a two-seater), Gamma (a corner tub) and Sigma (a single seater). All are about $20,000, but installation's extra.

DuPont's SentryGlas sandwiches a photo between sheets of glass.

Bath Extensions: Pull-out kitchen faucets, which attach a spray faucet to a flexible hose that retracts into the spout, have been popular for a decade and responsible for an annual $300 million in sales, according to Lake Forest, Calif., maker Price Pfister. But though the company's focus groups showed that 70% of customers wanted a similar product for the bathroom vanity sink, creating a version that fit there proved a technical challenge: It was difficult to miniaturize the components that created the steam and spray functions. This year, Price Pfister came out with Catalina, a 4-inch-high faucet in a high arc attached to a weighted hose.

The faucet, in polished chrome or brushed nickel, lists at $175 to $246, but retailers already have them in stock at about one-third less. Because of its height, the oversize faucet looks like it might be more at home in the kitchen. But group product manager Steven Nadler says "that makes it useful for bathing the baby."

-- Amir Efrati contributed to this article.

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