The Handbag Raincoat
The Handbag Raincoat is a company and product invented by two sisters from Englewood Cliffs, NJ, that wants to protect a valuable piece of a woman's ensemble, the handbag, with a novel new type of raincoat.
The Handbag Raincoat is a sheet of material that comes in three different sizes and drapes over a handbag to provide it with protection from the rain. Based on the demonstration, it appears to come in several different patterns. The original prototype was made from a shower curtain. The entrepreneurs claim to have a utility patent on the closure at the top of the Handbag Raincoat and two design parents.
All of the sizes of the product can be manufactured for $1.79. Small, medium, and large sizes wholesale for $5, $7, and $9 respectively and retail for $11, $15, and $20. So far, in the year in which this deal aired, The Handbag Raincoat has grossed $125,000 in sales. In the business' three year lifetime, they have made $600,000 in gross sales.
Currently, the product is being sold in one hundred Bed, Bath, and Beyond stores after having passed various test markets in addition to being in an unclear number of Nordstrom and Container Store locations. The product has been featured in O Magazine and on The View and has sold over 10,000 units.
The entrepreneurs admit to having not spent any money on marketing because they engaged in a legal battle to stop two copycats from selling their versions of the product. This cost the business $10,000 to pursue. They also state that a "large" handbag company has started making a version that is also being called "The Handbag Raincoat" for $600 and that they were exploring their legal options.
The entrepreneurs state that they're looking for a shark to help them expand their market into shoes and other accessories and that they're willing to do whatever it takes to be successful.
Mark took issue with their statement, pointing to the fact that they haven't spent anything on marketing and instead seem to be waiting for something to happen to them.
The entrepreneurs left the tank without any deal.
After the entrepreneurs left, guest shark Sara Blakely related a story about starting Spanx and having a large company express an interest in her. After sitting down with them, they subsequently released a near rip-off of Spanx featuring a model that suspiciously resembled her. Rather than bother with a legal battle, she pushed on, believing it more important to create new and even better products.
This deal aired on Episode 10.05.