CHICAGO -- Amid millions of plates, dishes, flatware, lawn chairs, copper sprinklers, wastepaper baskets, vacuum cleaners, home haircut accessories, cleaning products, microwaves and milkshake makers, a few interesting items jumped out at this year's Housewares Show.
Held annually Chicago's McCormick Place, the show features all sorts of items designed to make your house and garden more functional, beautiful and easier to maintain.
Here's a look at some of the new products that will soon be making their way to a local home improvement store or garden center near you:
...If you've ever broken a wine glass in the dishwasher, you'll appreciate the usefulness of StemGrip™. A plastic post extends the tines in the dishwasher. Clips that hold the stems of glasses can be stacked onto it. The clips keep the glasses from moving around while being washed and possibly smashing into each other.
As with most inventions, StemGrip™ was born out of frustration.
"Steve (Herbst, co-inventor) heard me cursing when I took the pieces of a glass out of the dishwasher and challenged me to do something about it," said Ursula. "It took about a year to move from the idea to an actual product."
Herbst, who left his full-time job to oversee the creation and manufacture of StemGrip™.