11 January 2008

New and Improved

It has certainly had one helluva run...
With its myriad tools like tweezers and bottle-openers, the gadget was for a time indispensable to the clued-in traveler.

But in the wake of September 11, 2001, when airlines banned knives on board, sales of the knives -- which were often purchased as a souvenir at airport stores -- fell by around a third, said Carl Elsener IV, who runs the company with his 85-year-old father, Carl Elsener III.
But sometimes... it pays to think outside of the box.
An updated range of pocket knives, including ones equipped with laser pointers and flash memory drives for storing data or music, has also helped the firm ride out the sales decline.
New life for an old fave.

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