Teddy Needs a Bath Wash Bag Update | Season 4
Entrepreneur and mother Nicole Townend, has come up with a product to help get stuffed animals clean, without damaging them. Will she scrub up a deal on
Shark Tank Teddy Needs a Bath Update
- Entrepreneur: Nicole Townend
- Business: Washer/dryer bag for stuffed animals
- Ask: $50,000 for 10% equity
- Result: $100,000 for 30% equity and a 10% royalty, until the investment is recouped
- Shark: Mark Cuban
As a mother, Nicole got the idea for Teddy Needs a Bath, when she observed her children carting their stuffed animals everywhere. They became contaminated with germs and allergens, and then joined her kids in bed at night. As a solution, she created a bag which keeps stuffed animals safe while in the washer or dryer.
Robert Herjavec wondered why parents don’t simply throw the stuffed animal directly into the washer or dryer. Nicole told him that doing so could scratch the stuffy’s plastic eyes, rip their seams, or cause damage to your washer and dryer.
Lori Greiner asked Nicole what was to stop other companies from knocking her off. Nicole said she had a patent pending, and that she was the only washer/dryer bag on the market with a zipper made specifically for stuffed animals. Better yet, her competitors all used mesh, while she used cotton. Lori was not convinced, and said she thought other bags just like this were on the market already.
Mark Cuban asked Nicole about the financials, learning that it cost $2.25 to make the bag overseas, and the product retailed at $14.99. The bag launched in January of that year, and was featured on The Today Show. This helped her sell “a couple of hundred units” in a relatively short time.
Robert asked for clarification on the time frame, and discovered that it took Nicole 6 months to make $12,000 in sales. She went on to talk about her plan to roll out the product in Babies R’ Us locations everywhere, including a line of scented dryer sheets.
Lori returned to her original concern about the product not being original, and she became the first shark to go out. Robert went out next, as he didn’t see the product growing. Daymond John also wasn’t sold, stating that he felt the valuation was too big, and that it was too early to invest without enough proof of concept. For this reason, he too was out.
Kevin O’Leary loved the concept of the product, and offered $50,000 for 50% of the business, but that wasn’t all. He also wanted 10% of sales every month, which would drop to 5% in perpetuity after his investment was recouped.
Mark jumped in to offer Nicole $100,000 for 40% equity. At this point, Kevin adjusted his offer to stay in the game, dropping from 50% to 30% equity. His royalty and perpetuity provisos, however, remained unaltered.
After a brief recesss to speak with her husband, and some negotiating back and forth with Kevin, Nicole asked Mark if he would be open to a counter. She suggested $100,000 for 30% equity, along with the 10% royalty until Mark made his money back. It was essentially Kevin’s dea,l but with more cash.
Without hesitation, Mark accepted, and the deal was done. How did things pan out after the tank? Keep reading our Teddy Needs a Bath update to find out!
We have good news to reveal in our Teddy Needs a Bath update! While the deal with Mark never did close, he still financed purchase orders for Nicole and advised her. With his guidance, she was able to get her product into Babies R’ Us, and also secured a licensing deal with Gund, one of the world’s largest teddy bear manufacturers. In 2019, she sold her company to Charisma Brands, but products are still available to purchase on the Teddy Needs a Bath website.
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Andrew Smith is the founder and owner of Shark Tank Recap. He is a longtime Shark Tank fan that has been watching it for years and has seen every episode multiple times. His friends know him as the Shark Tank expert, because he can answer any question about the show! His favorite Shark Tank products are Bertello's pizza oven and Bug Bite Thing!