![]() ![]() Specialty toy and craft stores were just the place for loom demonstrations and classes.įor Gary and Molly Fitzpatrick, who own two Learning Express Toys stores in Ohio and one in Michigan, the Rainbow Loom has been a boon for their franchises. The key to selling the kits, it turned out, was educating buyers about how to use them. Soon, other Learning Express Toys stores were clamoring for Rainbow Looms. The owner of a Learning Express Toys store, a chain of 130 franchises, placed an order for 24 looms, and, two days later, she called to reorder. Ng and his daughters posted instructional videos on YouTube, and he bought Google ads to help spread the word. Part of the problem was that people didn’t know what to make of the newfangled toy. They had limited success selling Rainbow Loom online, and their early attempts at placing it in major toy stores fell flat. Ng assembled kits after arriving home from the office at night his wife, Tyng Fen Chan, worked on them during the day. He sank $5,000 into the molding for the template and the other $5,000 into the kit’s parts.Ī shipment of 2,000 pounds of rubber bands arrived at the family’s home in the summer of 2011. When he found that his budget was too small for American manufacturers, he began vetting some in China. “All we had saved to invest was $10,000,” Mr. He came up with the idea in 2010 and began selling the kit while employed as a crash-test engineer for Nissan.Īs with many new ventures, the first challenge was financial. Rainbow Loom is the invention of Cheong Choon Ng, a Malaysian immigrant of Chinese descent with a graduate degree in mechanical engineering. From it, 24 bracelets can be woven into patterns similar to those traditionally used in lanyards and friendship bracelets, but more complex and colorful. The kit consists of two plastic template boards, a hook, 24 plastic clips and 600 multicolored mini rubber bands. Julia is among hundreds of thousands of youngsters - and parents - in the United States who are using Rainbow Loom. ![]() Sales were impressive that night - “we made like $68,” she said. “We had a lot, at least 100,” Julia estimated of their inventory, which they priced at $1 to $2 apiece. Julia and a friend had made the jewelry out of tiny rubber bands, using a crafts kit called Rainbow Loom. Among the children was Julia Colen, a 12-year-old vacationer from New Jersey, who in addition to hawking cupcakes and drinks was presiding over a stand overflowing with brightly colored bracelets. ![]() LAST weekend in Fair Harbor, N.Y., on Fire Island, a few dozen children gathered on the boardwalk for the local tradition of selling lemonade, baked goods and painted seashells to passers-by at sunset. ![]()
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