2008-10-08

Chocolate Fiesta



It is finally here! With the Fall season upon us, Fiesta collectors are once again starting to dream about a brown color to use. Well HLC has finally answered! It was announced today that in November, HLC will start selling Chocolate colored Fiesta. The color looks beautiful! The catch is it will NOT be produced in all shapes, and while they haven't announced a retirement date for the color yet, they have said it won't be around for long. Such a shame. By the time it finally hits the store shelves, autumn will almost be over and stores will be displaying their winter stuff. In order for this color to be a hit, it should have been released at least 3 months ago, in time for Fall.



Read the news release that announced the new color after the jump.

News Release

Contact:
Danielle Elderkin Kimberly Clark
Cover Story Communications, Inc. Cover Story Communications, Inc.
800.928.6613, x1 800.928.6613, x2
danielle@coverstorycom.com kimberly@coverstorycom.com


FIESTA® SATISFIES CRAVING WITH NEW DECADENT DINNERWARE
“Chocolate” is introduced at New York Tabletop Market, 41 Madison Avenue, Floor 16

Newell, W.Va.—(October 6, 2008)—The Homer Laughlin China Company™ introduces Chocolate FIESTA to its existing offering of 14 contemporary colors. The new neutral offers yet another colorful story to everyday dinnerware décor; Chocolate FIESTA can be used as a stand-alone statement with individual decadent place settings, or as an accent with like neutral Ivory or cool blues: Cobalt, Peacock and Turquoise.

“We’ve received an overwhelming response to the upcoming launch,” says Rich Brinkman, FIESTA Dinnerware. Homer Laughlin will officially unveil the cocoa-inspired color at New York Tabletop Market, 41 Madison Avenue, Wednesday, October 22 thru Friday, October 24. FIESTA’s showroom is on the 16th floor.

Simply delicious, Chocolate joins Black, White, Ivory, Cinnabar, Cobalt, Turquoise, Sunflower, Plum, Scarlet, Shamrock, Tangerine, Peacock, Evergreen and Heather bringing the FIESTA color count to 15, despite Homer Laughlin’s commitment to a 14 shade palette—each year introducing a new hue and retiring another.

“After an enormous number of requests for a dark brown and a need for another strong earth tone,” says Brinkman, “we decided to introduce a limited item color to accompany Ivory and give consumers additional fashion forward color options just in time for holiday shopping.”

Chocolate continues to prove its staying power both on and off the runway—dubbed the “new black” year after year. “It’s a very youthful color trend that has made its way from apparel into the home and onto the tabletop,” says Brinkman—addressing a growing number of consumers shopping for everyday tableware.

Chocolate concoctions range from Ivory and Tangerine sprinkled with Chocolate pieces for festive fall settings, to the more ‘mod’ with bright White layered with lots and lots of Chocolate and hints of Shamrock.
“You can also spice it up with Tangerine, Sunflower and Shamrock, or go formal with Black,” says Brinkman.

Unlike its 14 companion colors, Chocolate FIESTA will be offered in four and five piece place settings, along with select shapes deemed “best sellers”. “We’re focusing on our most popular items in this new color,” Brinkman says, “because this is truly an accent color, not what we consider a ‘core driver’ like Scarlet, Sunflower and Cobalt,”—all top selling shades in the existing lineup.

Select Chocolate shapes include: the traditional size Mug and oversized Java version, Oval Platter, Fruit and various size Bowls, Mugs, Luncheon, Salad and Dinner Plates, large and small Disc Pitchers, Salt and Pepper Shakers, Individual Oval Casserole, and Gusto Bowl.

Limited in items, Chocolate FIESTA will also be limited in its availability.

No exact date has been set for its retirement according to Brinkman; however, he encourages consumers and collectors to “eat it up.”

Look for Chocolate FIESTA in stores and online as early as November 17.

###

About Fiesta® Dinnerware
Designed by Frederick Hurten Rhead in 1936, FIESTA® Dinnerware is now the most collected china in the United States and among the most collected china in the world. It has been featured on many popular TV programs, including ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover and the Today Show. The product was discontinued in 1973 and reissued in 1986 with new contemporary colors to mark its 50th anniversary. Its unique Art Deco style has landed FIESTA® Dinnerware in the collections of numerous museums from the Smithsonian Institution to the Andy Warhol Museum.

About The Homer Laughlin China Company™
The Homer Laughlin China Company™, headquartered in Newell, West Virginia, is the largest domestic producer of china dinnerware in the United States. The company’s distinctive FIESTA® brand is featured on dining tables across the country and coveted by a large, enthusiastic group of collectors. For additional information, please visit the Homer Laughlin™ Web site at www.hlchina.com.


5 comments:

Ms. Val said...

This is WONDERFUL news! I'll be anxious to see how this compares to Amberstone.

Also, I'll have to check the message board. This new color is all the buzz there. I haven't been there yet because I just got home after doing some extra CAD work at school. I came to your blog first. :-)

RainbowDishes said...

Thanks for coming here first! I didn't believe when I saw the post this morning about it. But later on when I saw another post AND PICTURES...I couldn't believe it. The picture of just the place setting looks like it is solid chocolate! If it was a chocolate bunny, I would be eating the ears off first! Yeah, I hope it is similar but just enough different from Amberstone that the difference is obvious. I don't want another Gray/Pearl Gray where it is next to impossible to tell the difference.

Ms. Val said...

I hope it is similar but just enough different from Amberstone that the difference is obvious.

To me, Amberstone is more of a root beer brown with a tinge of red in it. Not like this new color.

When I saw this post, I really thought you were playing around with PhotoShop again. But you're right.

Those dishes really do look solid chocolate. If it was, I'd eat the ring handle off the mug first then freeze the rest. After it was frozen solid, I would smash it and eat the pieces. Frozen chocolate is the best.

DS Mark said...

I will probably get some mugs in this for hot chocolate. Honestly, I can't see serving food on this color and making it look appetizing.

RainbowDishes said...

Mugs in this color would be perfect for hot chocolate! As usual, any new Fiesta color is a definite wait and see until it is in the stores. The picture looks good to me, but I know how the colors look different in person. I am hoping for something a bit closer to amberstone, but not the same color.

As for using Chocolate, it would have to be used as an accent color...it is definitely not a color that could be used by itself. Ivory is the same way. As a monochromatic setting, HORRIBLE! But used as an accent color, AWESOME!