Niche Biz: Put-In-Cups
Randall Hunt was a Fort Worth electrician tired of fighting the Texas heat four years ago when he invented Put-In-Cups. The small, plastic squares fit snug in the spaces of a chain-link fence and do the same job as a banner.
The idea came to Hunt after passing by a Fort Worth-area school and seeing foam cups in a fence spelling out “God Bless America.”
Hunt’s ashtray-shaped cups, which come in 17 colors, have been “hurricane-tested in Florida, sun-tested in Arizona and freeze-tested in Maine.” And best of all, each cup proudly displays “Made In Texas.”
“It’s really taking off,” Hunt said from his booth at the Arlington Convention Center during the second day of the Texas Girls Coaches Association summer clinic. “Business triples every year.”
Hunt’s cups, which cost about $360 for a box of 2,000, are on display around the Fort Worth area, including Aledo High School and the Fort Worth Cats’ LaGrave Field.
Hunt, 44, said his patent is coming soon after 2.5 million cups have sold in less than four years. He has sold cups to U.S. military bases as far away as Germany and Italy.
Photo by Put-in-Cups.com.
cassy on July 17th, 2008 12:40 am
The way i look at his product i cant really know that its made of colorful cups. His business is quiet different. Im sure lots of people admire him. It a WOW!
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