Toys for making sand and snow castles have been round for a very long time, however Create a Castle supplies detailed molds for creating stunning castles with out an excessive amount of effort. Founders, Kevin and Laurie Lane appeared on season 14 with hopes of securing a deal. As of 2024, Create a Castle is value an estimated $1 million.
About the Founders
Kevin and Laurie Lane are a married couple who reside in New Milford, Connecticut. Not a lot is understood in regards to the husband’s academic background, however Laurie obtained a level in retail administration from the University of Connecticut.
Laurie began her profession as a retailer supervisor at The Gap. She was additionally employed to be a district supervisor at The Walt Disney Company. Then, she labored as an unbiased trip planner at MEI-Travel & Mouse Fan Travel.
Kevin has a whole lot of expertise in internet design and landed his first job within the trade at Digital Madness. Later on, he was employed by firms resembling LifeCare, WebMediaBrands, and Jupitermedia. In 2010, he based his first agency, Code Hounds, together with his spouse as an account supervisor.
Founding the Company
Aside from creating web sites, Kevin cherished constructing sand castles. But like many individuals, he didn’t like sand fort buckets since you’d have to strike them a number of occasions to get your ultimate product.
The duo designed a variety of chateau molds that may be opened on the aspect after you fill them with sand or snow. They made completely formed little castles and began promoting them in 2017.
A yr later, the startup obtained over 500 orders after being featured on ABC’s Live with Kelly and Ryan. In 2020, the product was hailed as Toy of the Year by the Toy Association. This helped the founders get a distribution take care of TOMY Australia.
Getting on Shark Tank
Create A Castle has made respectable gross sales, and it’s on monitor to be an trade chief in its area of interest. This could also be why the entrepreneurs had been trying to carry a Shark on board.
After Kevin and Laurie Lane had been accepted onto the present, they had been invited to movie in July this yr. And earlier than their episode aired, Kevin determined to thank his supportive townsfolk in New Milford by making a 15-foot sandcastle on a close-by seashore.
He employed a sand sculptor named Dan Anderson for the challenge. It serves as a type of PR announcement for his or her presentation on Shark Tank.
After Shark Tank
Despite their episode solely just lately airing, it’s anticipated to obtain an enormous increase in orders from followers of the present. As Create A Castle solely has three workers in complete, they could wrestle to deal with transport within the quick run.
Their product is offered to purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, CreateACastle.com, and a few small toy shops within the US. Thanks to the deal they signed with TOMY, they are going to be in retail shops throughout Australia in time for Christmas. Given Australia’s stunning seashores, down beneath needs to be a serious marketplace for the corporate.
Create a Castle has a mean overview ranking of 4.3 from over 540 Amazon opinions. Currently, Create a Castle is value an estimated $1 million.
