San Francisco-based Sharper Image Corp. today announced it has been added to the Russell 2000 Index.

“We remain committed to our successful strategy of growth through multiple sales channels, driven by innovative proprietary Sharper Image Design and private label products,” said Richard Thalheimer, the specialty products retailer’s founder, chairman and chief executive officer. “Our success in new store unit growth of 10 percent to 15 percent annually on our current base of 118 stores makes us optimistic about our sales and earnings prospects for the year.”

The Sharper Image sells its high-tech gadgets through its store network, its web site and through its monthly mail order catalog.

The company was founded in 1977, and now employs 1,600 people. It has been publicly traded since 1987.

Membership in Russell’s 21 U.S. equity indexes is determined strictly by market capitalization rankings and style attributes . Russell indexes are widely used by managers for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies. About $250 billion is invested in index funds based on Russell’s indexes and an additional $850 billion is benchmarked to them. Investment managers who oversee these funds purchase shares of member stocks according to that company’s weighting in the particular index.