It’s new. It’s blue. And coming soon to a retailer near you.
Zippo Manufacturing Co. President and Chief Executive Officer
Greg Booth told The Era Tuesday he expects new “Blue Flame”
(butane) products will be shipped out for the first time as soon as
this August.
Booth said the company has hired more than 100 employees over
the last year to work on Zippo’s “Blue Flame project,” but there is
still work to be done on the design and patents.
“We’re in the final phases of design and manufacturing,” Booth
said, adding there are extensive industry tests the product has to
undergo.
Contrary to other news reports, however, Zippo will not be
hiring any more workers for the Blue Flame line. It was announced,
he said, more than a year ago that about 100 employees would be
needed for the blue flame line.
“We’ve already done that,” Booth said.
The Blue Flame, or butane-fueled, refillable pocket lighters are
an extension of Zippo’s product line, Booth said, and also include
a lifetime guarantee. He said the company has been working on the
butane product for years, and that the design is unique to
Zippo.
“Although we’re not actively taking orders at this time,” Booth
said, “we’re very confident that we will be able to ship (Blue
Flame) lighters by the end of this summer.”
The main difference between the butane products and the
traditional liquid fluid lighter -ðthe same basic design used since
1932 -ðin that the butane lighter emits no chemical odor. Consumers
purchasing Zippo lighters for use with fine cigars and similar,
more expensive tobacco products prefer the odorless butane
lighter.
Zippo released a different butane product -ðthe “multi-purpose
lighter,” an elongated push-button style lighter used for grills,
candles, etc. -ðin 2002.
Currently, MPLs are produced in China, but Booth said Monday the
company is conducting a feasibility study to see about producing
MPLs here in Bradford.
Booth said, however, there is no formal time line for such a
move, as the company is still doing necessary research to decide if
relocating the MPL production line is economically sound. He said
he did not expect a decision on the matter would even be able to be
made this year.
