Ironing out a new product.

• Author: Baughman, Nena
• Position: Seymour Housewares Corp. introduces WorkWizard ironing board

For all you domestic types out there wishing you had just a bit more space, Seymour Housewares Corp. has the perfect ironing board for you--the WorkWizard, with 54 percent more working surface than traditional ironing boards.

Seymour Housewares' ironing board is superior not only because of its increased ironing surface, but also because of its accessories. The WorkWizard Advanced Ironing Center, as the new product is officially titled, comes with an attachable clothes rack and a holder for spray bottles and starches. And across the board rather than at the end, the WorkWizard has an iron holder and cord minder. Increased space and accessories make ironing less of chore by decreasing the time normally spent finding places to hang ironed clothing, rearranging cords and retrieving tumbling spray bottles. The WorkWizard functions as a total laundry center.

In addition to its other hot features, the WorkWizard has four large, square feet to give the ironing board more traction and stability than traditional ironing boards. The front of the board is "noseless," or flat, so that it fills out garments, making it easier and quicker than ever before to iron shirts, blouses and larger items.

Seymour-based Seymour Housewares Corp. already dominated the ironing board business--with more than 75 percent of the North American market for its product. It achieved that success without a formal marketing plan, which it has now instituted. Seymour polled its customers to find out what they wanted in an ironing board. The results: More than three-fourths wanted a bigger ironing surface and more than half wished they had a rack attached to their board on which to hang clothes.

Something else Seymour Housewares found out was that today's ironers often iron in a flurry and leave their ironing boards standing out in rooms; they're not as likely to fold them up and shove them in a closet or utility room. Therefore, the company set out to design color-coordinated board covers. Now you can cover your ironing board in one of nine new fashion designs, including solids, floral prints and geometric patterns to...