LAS VEGAS – The Innovative HME Retail Product Awards, a hit at last year’s Medtrade, are back at Medtrade Spring, the March 10-12 version of the nation’s premiere HME trade show.
A committee of judges will sort through the latest products to find the best new retail items, all with the aim of helping providers bring in vital new revenue streams. All products will be judged on functionality, quality/durability, aesthetics/style, environmental sustainability, and ease of retail set-up and pricing.
The following five (listed here in alphabetical order) took home the prize last year during the inaugural 2013 Innovative HME Retail Product Awards:
• The Royal-EZ from Comfor Tek Seating, Alberta, Canada.
Randy Schellenberg, president of Comfor Tek: “This is an innovative product that addresses a very real issue—how to accommodate mobility challenged people—while providing respect and dignity
• iWalk2.0 Hands Free Crutch from iWalk Free, Long Beach, Calif
Brad Hunter, director of Business Development, iWALKFree Inc: “The product is new, yet solves an age-old problem. It is retail ready. This product functions well, is appropriately priced for retail, is packaged efficiently, and merchandises itself based on package design.
• EVE from Joint Solutions Inc, Miami, Fla
Ed Marti, president, Joint Solutions Inc: “It is an ideal product [pulse therapy/heat therapy] that potentially any woman will want to purchase, either for herself, her daughter, or her grand daughter, since many woman suffer from painful menstrual craps.
• Socks from Nufoot – Beyond Barefoot, Diablo, Calif
Patricia Zweiback, president: “I think that the judges and the consumers like Nufoot because it is a big improvement over existing footwear solutions. Comfortable, affordable, and useful footwear is a universal need among all people, be they elderly or younger.
• Briefs and Underwear from Unique Wellness, Brooklyn, NY
Steve Goelman, CEO, Unique Wellness: “We were the first incontinence product with the ability to show how a brief/underwear is not just the product itself and how it can perform—but how it can be displayed to the retail eye.
New products selected for the March 10-12, 2014, Medtrade Spring will ultimately be featured in a retail products roundtable conference session called The Best New HME Retail/Cash Opportunities, moderated by Jim Greatorex, owner of Black Bear Medical. Winning manufacturers will be allotted 5 to 7 minutes to discuss their product with audience members.
Winning products will be featured in a special retail display in the New Product Pavilion on the show floor. Whittling down the bounty of products to just five last year was a tall order, and Greatorex and the other judges expect an equally difficult selection process in 2014.
Like most educational sessions, The Best New HME Retail/Cash Opportunities is included with the regular conference fee. To register for Medtrade Spring, CLICK HERE.
