‘Shark Tank’ preview: Combat Flip Flops, BearTek Gloves, Major Mom, R Riveter, and Turbopup
Friday night, “Shark Tank” will be back once again with another new episode, and this time around, products from military veterans and spouses are going to be the theme. These products are going to cover a wide array of different areas of the clothing industry, and then also one to help you organize the clothing (and much more) once it is over.
You can see the synopsis for this installment (something that seems to becoming a yearly theme for the show) below. The Sharks for this episode are Daymond John, Kevin O’Leary, Robert Herjavec, Lori Greiner, and Mark Cuban:
“Veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs try to enlist the Sharks’ investments in their products—will it be a mission accomplished? Two military spouses from Murfreesboro, TN have built a handbag empire using upcycled military materials and piecework from other military spouses—but will the $200+ price point for a bag deter a deal? A former Marine from Columbia, MD and his business partner from Dallas, TX try to sell the Sharks on their gloves that put wireless control of your phone at your fingertips, even while on the ski slopes and motorcycles. A former Air Force Major from Phoenix, AZ looks to franchise her personal organization business that can keep Americans’ homes “majorly” de-cluttered. Two veteran army rangers tout their product line, which empowers locals who make “cool products in dangerous places”—namely Colombia, Afghanistan and Laos—from sandals to sarongs and jewelry. They promote peace through business instead of bullets. “Shark Tank” revisits Air Force veteran Kristina Guerrero of La Pine, OR, owner of Turbopup, the canine meal bars, in which Daymond John invested last season, to see how her business has expanded in just 18 months.”
Combat Flip Flops – We really like this company a lot based on what we’ve seen. They’ve got really cool designs beyond just the signature flip flop, and they’ve also got a sense of humor in some of their branding of just how wearing some of these is the complete opposite of being on the battlefield. Also, we really love that they’re choosing to support education for young women in Afghanistan who often don’t get these sort of opportunities. Even their prices are fairly reasonable, and they actually go up to a size 14. (It’s very frustrating as someone with larger feet how most shoe stores tend to only carry up to 13.)
BearTek – This company makes some really fashionable, intuitive gloves that allow for Bluetooth functionally. They’re waterproof and breathable, and while they’re expensive at over $100, it’s not altogether shocking like it was for the cooler with air conditioning. Our question is mostly this: How many people need to be connecting to devices while on their motorcycle? The only time we see this making some sense is if you need to speak with someone while out in the snow.
Major Mom – It’s an interesting idea for a service that helps to teach and improve organization. There are certainly plenty of people out there who need it, but will any of these said people pay for it? That’s what we are still in the process of trying to figure out. People who are disorganized when it comes to their stuff as it is may not be altogether willing to pay big bucks to get someone to fix it.
R Riveter – For the second time this season, we have a product that is a handbag line created by an admirable group of people. For Sarah Oliver Handbags, it is senior citizens behind their creation. Here, it is military spouses. The bags are nice and not egregiously priced; the challenge here may just be showing the Sharks that there is a business plan in place to really get a share of the market to go along with the great story that they have.
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