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CNN Live Saturday
Company Sees Increasing Orders for Panic Rooms
Aired March 08, 2003 - 15:47 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: During the Cuban missile crisis of '60s, some U.S. families shopped for bomb shelters as a way to shield themselves from harm. The contemporary equivalent, the panic room. People with enough money and enough fear can put in an order right now. CNN's Kathleen Koch checked out some of those sanctuaries at the Washington Home and Garden Show, and now she's going to tell us about them -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Renay, call it a sign of the times. Right there, next to the hot tubs and the closet organizers, they're selling steel safe rooms. Now, there was only one small model on display. It was, again, made of solid steel, had bullet-proof glass and 800-pound door. We have video of it, if they'd like to pop it up there. Reinforced locks, reinforced screws. And it promises protection from everything -- oops, now, that's not our steel room. That is actually a tent that is -- there's our steel safe room -- and promises protection from everything from thieves to unruly mobs, hurricanes, tornadoes, chemical, biological, nuclear particulates, things like that. That's what the tent was for, the biological and nuclear particulates.
Now, of course, neither of these will withstand a nuclear blast. I talked to the designer at the Washington Home and Garden Show, and his name was Jeff Quante (ph), about his company's unusual product.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Where do people put things like this in their home?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, normally, they'll put them in a concealed space, a hidden room, if you will, so they'll look for pockets in their home where they can put it in. It will have a concealed door on the front of it where you push a button, the door opens, you enter the room and lock yourself in. And then the outside door closes behind them, and nobody knows where they are.
KOCH: So is this a bargain model? I mean -- how much does this go for?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Normally, I'd sell this for $25, 000. We have a show special, 14,900, and you can have it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: And what was on display there was a stripped-down model. You can get models that have telephones in them, security cameras, all the bells and whistles for the rich and paranoid. And those cost up to and above and beyond $50,000 each.
Now, this Baltimore company, Xytech (ph), started making them back in July. They've already sold eight. They say they've taken orders for some six more, and they say that one of those orders came in this week at the Home and Garden Show and was placed by a high government official, though they're not naming any names -- Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: Oh, that's comforting. Well, you know, I mean, I would prefer if I had the money to cower in fear in comfort and style, but maybe they have got a payment plan or something.
Did you talk to anybody, any just passersby, those attending the show to ask what they thought of these safe rooms?
KOCH: We did, and the responses were very interesting. I did run into one woman from southern Maryland who had actually been thinking of renovating her home and building in some sort of bomb shelter in the basement. So now, she is looking at one of these safe rooms or those tents.
But most of the people we talked to said that they really felt like this was overkill, that the threat didn't justify an investment like this, but the company doesn't believe they're profiting on public panic. They really believe that they're offering a product that will give people something that's in pretty short supply right now, and that's peace of mind.
SAN MIGUEL: Exactly. You either do it yourself with the plastic sheeting and duct tape, or you can go with these. Kathleen Koch in Washington, thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired March 8, 2003 - 15:47 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: During the Cuban missile crisis of '60s, some U.S. families shopped for bomb shelters as a way to shield themselves from harm. The contemporary equivalent, the panic room. People with enough money and enough fear can put in an order right now. CNN's Kathleen Koch checked out some of those sanctuaries at the Washington Home and Garden Show, and now she's going to tell us about them -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Renay, call it a sign of the times. Right there, next to the hot tubs and the closet organizers, they're selling steel safe rooms. Now, there was only one small model on display. It was, again, made of solid steel, had bullet-proof glass and 800-pound door. We have video of it, if they'd like to pop it up there. Reinforced locks, reinforced screws. And it promises protection from everything -- oops, now, that's not our steel room. That is actually a tent that is -- there's our steel safe room -- and promises protection from everything from thieves to unruly mobs, hurricanes, tornadoes, chemical, biological, nuclear particulates, things like that. That's what the tent was for, the biological and nuclear particulates.
Now, of course, neither of these will withstand a nuclear blast. I talked to the designer at the Washington Home and Garden Show, and his name was Jeff Quante (ph), about his company's unusual product.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Where do people put things like this in their home?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, normally, they'll put them in a concealed space, a hidden room, if you will, so they'll look for pockets in their home where they can put it in. It will have a concealed door on the front of it where you push a button, the door opens, you enter the room and lock yourself in. And then the outside door closes behind them, and nobody knows where they are.
KOCH: So is this a bargain model? I mean -- how much does this go for?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Normally, I'd sell this for $25, 000. We have a show special, 14,900, and you can have it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: And what was on display there was a stripped-down model. You can get models that have telephones in them, security cameras, all the bells and whistles for the rich and paranoid. And those cost up to and above and beyond $50,000 each.
Now, this Baltimore company, Xytech (ph), started making them back in July. They've already sold eight. They say they've taken orders for some six more, and they say that one of those orders came in this week at the Home and Garden Show and was placed by a high government official, though they're not naming any names -- Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: Oh, that's comforting. Well, you know, I mean, I would prefer if I had the money to cower in fear in comfort and style, but maybe they have got a payment plan or something.
Did you talk to anybody, any just passersby, those attending the show to ask what they thought of these safe rooms?
KOCH: We did, and the responses were very interesting. I did run into one woman from southern Maryland who had actually been thinking of renovating her home and building in some sort of bomb shelter in the basement. So now, she is looking at one of these safe rooms or those tents.
But most of the people we talked to said that they really felt like this was overkill, that the threat didn't justify an investment like this, but the company doesn't believe they're profiting on public panic. They really believe that they're offering a product that will give people something that's in pretty short supply right now, and that's peace of mind.
SAN MIGUEL: Exactly. You either do it yourself with the plastic sheeting and duct tape, or you can go with these. Kathleen Koch in Washington, thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
