OpenX May Be The Perfect Gift For Opening Hard-to-Open Gifts

With the holidays approaching, many of us can expect to receive a gift that is packaged in a plastic clamshell—those form-fitting, front-and-back, plastic coverings that are applied to either side of a product and sealed together where they meet. These rigid packages can be very difficult and frustrating to open and oftentimes can lead to injuries. Manufacturers and retailers will continue to use these packages because clamshells make products more difficult to pilfer while still giving maximum visual exposure to the product inside.

A few years ago, Thomas Perlmutter recognized the problem and decided to do something about it. As a businessman who creates and markets insert cards for clamshells, Perlmutter knew the territory. He researched and designed OpenX (short for OpenExperts), a handheld plastic tool that holds two razor-sharp blades, specifically for opening clamshells.

The first blade is extendable and retractable via a thumb press button, similar to a box cutter. The user pushes the button to extend the piercing blade, pushes down on the package to pierce the plastic, and drags to create an inch-long slit. Then the user retracts the piercing blade and inserts the front tip, which houses the second blade, similar to an envelope opener. Firmly pushing and sliding the OpenX along each side of the clamshell opens it safely and quickly.

The Ranchmark company, which markets OpenX, was profitable on revenue of $250,000 last year, and demand remains strong. Sales average about 100 per day on the Web (www.myopenx.com). "It's getting bigger every day - and it works," says Perlmutter. "Once you get the hang of it, it's a simple thing."

A huge increase in orders occurred in May when OpenX was featured on a popular gadget blog called Gizmodo. The company received 1,100 orders for it the following day. Besides through the Internet, OpenX can be purchased through retailers, though sometimes retailers do not know where it would do best on the shelves. On top of that, aisle-browsers often overlook it because its purpose is not immediately understood.

It is the OpenX mission to deliver consumers from the many preventable injuries caused by clamshell packages. (In 2004, 3,000 in the U.S. were serious enough to be reported!) The OpenX tool is $4.95 at the myopenx.com website, and shipping is for free regardless of quantity.