Inventor Is 'Taking It To The Street' In Her Quest For The American Dream
When it comes to selling the “big boxes” it may take more than just thinking outside the box; that’s why most mornings you’ll find Noel Strand standing in front of one of the big chain hardware stores, handing out samples of her new invention and passing around a petition asking the big boys for a shot at the American Dream.
It was the recurring frustration of trying to repair the textured walls in her Sacramento home and never quite being satisfied with the results that lead Strand to invent her own solution, a simple stencil tool dubbed “texture-fix” that enables almost anyone to restore “knock-down” texturing like a pro.Says Strand: “My little tool works like a champ, it’s something everyone needs and it’s super affordable (about $2.00). It seems like a slam dunk”; but after spending considerable time and money fine-tuning the design and hammering out manufacturing issues, she is now faced with what turns out to be the really hard work – getting the big retailers to even take a look at it.
Strand has had a fair amount of success locally with independent retailers like Sacramento’s Emigh Hardware, where the stencils are in high demand, but these days the vast majority of home improvement stores are owned by huge corporations and they tend to buy from other huge corporations, “and unfortunately, that’s where I need to be if I am going to keep the price low”.
Image from Texture-Fix.com.
Caroline's typing jobs from home on October 25th, 2008 1:49 am
That’s a neat idea, not something I would do myself though as I am rubbish at DIY.
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