The fashion trends in apparel and housewares departments have spread across the aisle to many items in the hardware department, particularly flashlights.

The days of dull metal bodies, corroding battery cases and lights that fail in an emergency are over.

They have been replaced with high-fashion products produced with sleek lines, high-grade plastics, long-life batteries and high-intensity lights with price tags averaging $5 and $6, not the $3 and $4 of several years ago. This trend to upscale was established in the early part of this decade when rechargeables were introduced and is only expected to intensify with time. Phasing Out Cheap Stuff

“We’re getting rid of all the cheap stuff priced at $1 to $3,’ commented a New York-based discounter who asked not to be identified. “People aren’t reactive to the old cheap stuff anymore. They have no qualms about spending $5 to $10 on a flashlight.’

Ames, Rocky Hill, Conn., is reducing the number of sku’s at the lower end, preferring instead to concentrate on “the best items’ in the category, said Leslie Dietzman, executive vice president, merchandising.

When consumers decide to buy a flashlight, market research shows their primary considerations are reliability and performance. Consumers are demanding that their flashlights work when they need them and they are willing to pay for those qualities. Flashlights are a $415 million a year business at retail, $100 million of which is attributed to rechargeables, according to industry estimates. Sales have been growing by about 9 percent a year since 1983 when the upscale, high-tech focus took hold. By 1990, flashlight sales, including rechargeables, are projected to near $550 million.

Flashlight sales through discount retail outlets represent the largest chunk of sales, research reveals, comprising slightly more than one-third of all product sold, substantially outpacing department stores, with 15 percent, and hardware/home centers, with 12 percent of the market.

Beyond the move to upscale, emerging trends in the flashlight category continue to be the development of rechargeables, pricey lithium-powered traditional flashlights, compact sizes or “mini’s,’ and color.

A dual-battery system, like the Luma II by Rayovac–which includes a lithium battery as the primary power source and an alkaline battery as a backup–could be another trend. Also, more than ever before, flashlights are coming equipped with batteries, a development that is expected to gain momentum.

Only lithium battery-operated flashlights pose a trend snag for discounters, some report, because they are so pricey. Until prices moderate, some chains, like Gee Bee, Johnstown, Pa., won’t carry them at all.

Industry experts estimate that 95 percent of all households own at least one flashlight, and have three to five flashlights on the average. Consumers buy flashlights for such traditional home uses as emergencies, convenience and recreational activities like camping, plus for their cars and even for ladies’ purses, which now represent an exploding market for both manufacturers and retailers.

And increasingly, flashlights are being purchased as gifts. In fact, according to research supplied by Rayovac, over 50 percent of premium lights are purchased for someone else. And Black & Decker reported that in rechargeables, sales are split evenly between products bought for personal consumption and those purchased for gifts.

“The industry has created a demand with consumers simply by changing technology and design which translates into increased sales,’ observed David Covitz, vp and divisional merchandise manager for home improvement at Gold Circle, Worthington, Ohio.

These innovations have produced sales increases in the “double-digits’ at Gold Circle, a pace Covitz expects will continue for at least another 12 to 18 months, and longer if manufacturers continue to introduce new, more innovative products.

Women are playing a more important part in these sales, too, with as much as 60 percent of all flashlight sales attributed to women, said Kevin Garrity, vp, marketing for Garrity Industries, a leading flashlight manufacturer. Because women have shown a willingness to buy flashlights, manufacturers have stepped up styling efforts to appeal to them.

Color is playing a more important role in product styling, as is compact design, lighter-weight models and varying grip sizes.

In January, Black & Decker will roll out a new lithium-powered flashlight in four pastel colors called, “Just For Me.’ These models will carry a suggested retail price of $11.98. The manufacturer, which introduced flashlights in fashion colors several years ago, will continue to “see where color can be applied,’ said Garrity.

Long thought of as a “sleepy industry,’ flashlights have emerged as a booming and profitable category for retailers. Gross margins are generally at the 40 percent to 50 percent level and merchandising opportunities exist throughout the store: in hardware, automotives, sporting goods, endcaps and at checkout.