With August being the most popular vacation month of the year, families heading to the beach will be taking along that "Million Dollar' beach umbrella design. Brilliantly simple: Use the sand already on the beach to weight down the beach umbrella preventing it from blowing away. "Why didn't I think of that!"
Tired of your beach umbrellas blowing away? One creative mom, Barbara Bigford designed the Million Dollar Umbrella Idea, received a US Government Patent and has distributed thousands across the country. The beach umbrella is designed with three light weight pockets attached to the pole. Just fill the three pockets with sand to weight down your umbrella. When ready to leave the beach just pour sand back out - environmentally respectful. The umbrella is also designed to be skin health smart with fabric that is SPF 50.
Beach Pockets ® Umbrellas were chosen as the Best Summer Gadget on the TV Show: The View with Barbara Walters and received recognition for Best Inventions from a nationwide search contest. The Beach Pockets ® Umbrellas also received celebrity status when it was chosen as one of the celebrity gifts to the 2008 Golden Globes.
Beach Pockets(R) has been highlighted in the Wall Street Journal newspaper, as well as other national newspapers, shown on CBS News, sold on QVC, Wal-Mart and hundreds of retailers across the country including the exclusive Lilly Pulitzer stores, and featured on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.
Barbara's success story has much to do with not giving up from the beginning concept all the way to landing appointments with buyers of major retailers and finally seeing the designs on the store shelves. "Getting an idea from your head to the store shelf it a huge undertaking," says Barbara. "If you stay focused and tenacious about figuring out the next step, no matter how difficult the challenge is , you will get there. Just don't give up even if mistakes are made"¦ and trust me, mistakes will be made!"
With over a million dollars in sales, Barbara is setting her designs on creating an entire beach ensemble for beach lovers around the world.