THE SHARPER IMAGE®
650 Davis Street
San Francisco,
CA 94111
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 25, 2005
Corporate Headquarters
Phone
415-445-6274
Aimee Cooper
Phone
415-445-6023
OzoneGuard Uses Engelhard PremAir® Catalyst to Convert Ground-Level Ozone to Oxygen
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 25, 2005--The Sharper Image (NASDAQ:SHRP) today announced that its Professional Series(TM) Ionic Breeze® Silent Air Purifiers now feature OzoneGuard(TM), utilizing the innovative PremAir® catalyst developed by Engelhard Corporation (NYSE:EC) to destroy ground-level ozone by converting ozone molecules to oxygen molecules on contact.
"Ionic Breeze Silent Air Purifiers have always met U.S. government safety standards for ultra-low ozone by-product in electrostatic air cleaners as well as U.S. standards for indoor medical devices," said Richard Thalheimer, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of The Sharper Image. "OzoneGuard reduces indoor ozone levels even further. The Sharper Image is known for incorporating the newest technologies into unique products to enhance consumers' lives and has made a number of significant improvements to the Ionic Breeze line since its introduction. Ionic Breeze Silent Air Purifiers are now the first and only portable room air cleaners to use the PremAir catalyst developed by Engelhard Corporation."
"The Ionic Breeze is an excellent application for PremAir catalyst in a consumer product," said Richard Gay, business development director at Engelhard. "Once the Ionic Breeze air purifier is turned on, our ozone-destroying technology works on contact with sustained effectiveness." Commercial applications were first introduced in 1998 on car, truck and bus radiators. The PremAir catalyst is also being applied to commercial and residential air-conditioning units. Engelhard PremAir catalyst represents a proven approach in the quest for cleaner air. The Sharper Image will have exclusive rights to integrate the PremAir catalyst into portable indoor air cleaners.
Ionic Breeze became America's most popular brand of air purifier when it revolutionized the marketplace with Sharper Image's exclusive, patented Zenion Effect(TM) technology that circulates air electronically and in total silence. Ionic Breeze is an electrostatic precipitator air cleaner that traps airborne allergens and irritants on electrically charged permanent collectors; it requires no costly replacement filters. In the Professional Series(TM) Ionic Breeze Quadra® and Professional Series Ionic Breeze GP® (with germicidal protection), new OzoneGuard front grills feature a PremAir catalyst. In August, the Sharper Image will introduce an OzoneGuard attachment that will mount on the front grill of other Ionic Breeze units, including the popular Ionic Breeze Quadra 4.0. These items will be included in the purchase price of new units and will be made available at a nominal cost to past purchasers. Please visit Sharper Image stores or http://www.sharperimage.com for more details.
Engelhard Corporation is a surface and materials science company that develops technologies to help customers in a wide array of industries improve their products and processes. Engelhard Corporation has been a pioneer in clean-air technology for more than 30 years. The company invented the modern three-way catalytic converter now in use on most of the world's automobiles, and continues to develop new pollution-abatement technologies for a broadening array of applications and markets. A Fortune 500 company, Engelhard is a world-leading provider of technologies for environmental, process, appearance and performance applications. For more information, visit Engelhard on the Internet at http://www.engelhard.com.
The Sharper Image is a specialty retailer that is nationally and internationally renowned as a leading source of new, innovative, high-quality products that make life better and more enjoyable. A significant portion of sales are from proprietary products created by the Company's product development group, Sharper Image Design. The Company's principal selling channels include 185 Sharper Image specialty stores throughout the United States; the award-winning Sharper Image monthly catalog with annual circulation in excess of 98 million; and its primary Website, http://www.sharperimage.com. The Company also has business-to-business sales teams for marketing its exclusive and proprietary products for corporate incentive and reward programs and wholesale to selected U.S. and international retailers.
This
release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are
based on our current plans, expectations, estimates, and projections about the
specialty retail industry and management's beliefs about our future performance.
Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks,"
"estimates" or variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to
identify such forwarding-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees
of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult
to predict and which may cause our actual results and performance to differ materially
from those expressed or forecasted in any such forward-looking statements. These
risks and uncertainties are discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K under
"Factors Affecting Future Operating Results" and include our ability to continue
to find or develop and to offer attractive merchandise to our customers, changes
in business and economic conditions, risks associated with the expansion of our
retail store, catalog and Internet operations, and changes in the competitive
environment in which we operate. Unless required by law, the Company undertakes
no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements. However, readers
should carefully review the statements set forth in the reports, which we file
from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly our
Annual Report on Form 10-K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and any Current
Reports on Form 8-K.