Brookstone to Sell RES-Q-ME
INPEX® 2004 exhibitor Laurent Colasse has been dedicated to the innovation of quality safety products and enhancing safety awareness through education since 1997 when he started nov8[safety], a company based in Santa Barbara, Calif. Initially, he began distributing a product called the LifeHammer in North America. The LifeHammer is a car escape tool that can cut through seatbelts and break windows with ease in the case of an emergency.
Tokyo Electronics approached Colasse in 2001 after three of their employees died in a car accident because they could not escape from their submerged vehicle. "In memory of the men, the company wanted to give each of their 15,000 employees a LifeHammer so they could survive in a similar situation," said Colasse.
However, Tokyo Electronics sought a more compact version of the LifeHammer and contacted a third party to design a smaller safety tool that could attach to a key chain. That company developed the product, but could not market it successfully. Tokyo Electronics approached Colasse again for help. Colasse and the development company both agreed to sign the rights over to Colasse in an agreement that he would become the exclusive distributor.
The new safety key chain, named RES-Q-ME, was born. Colasse attended INPEX® in 2004 to display the RES-Q-ME. "We came to INPEX so that we could [try to] gain recognition for our product," said Colasse, "but we also got to meet a lot of interesting people and great business contacts."
At INPEX, Colasse took home the gold medal in the automotive category. Before INPEX, "It was difficult to get attention for the RES-Q-ME because no one believed that a product so small could have the ability to cut through a seatbelt or break a window. The award we won at INPEX helped us bring credibility to our product."
After returning from INPEX, Colasse contacted Brookstone which he had dealt with while marketing his first product, the Life Hammer. Brookstone is a nationwide specialty retailer offering an assortment of consumer products that are functional in purpose, distinctive in quality and design and not widely available from other retailers.
Brookstone agreed to test the product in 30 of their stores in June and July of 2005. The response to the product was positive. Brookstone placed an order for 4,000 units, which was distributed to their 280 retail stores across the United States in September.
Auto Bas, a nationwide auto parts store in Japan, has also placed an order and began selling the RES-Q-ME in October.
Colasse is looking forward to exhibiting at INPEX again. "It was a great experience, we would definitely like to come back one day."
According to the nov8[safety] Web site, the RES-Q-ME and the Life Hammer are currently being used by police departments in 11 states, fire departments in six states and extensively throughout British Colombia, Canada.
While the above exhibitor's experience is not typical of what most INPEX exhibitors can expect from attending the trade show, the events reported are a result of what can happen from attending INPEX – the Invention Show.
