elope, Inc.

elope Inc.
Private
Founded November 2, 1995; 21 years ago
Founders
  • Kevin Johnson
  • Keith Johnson
  • Franzi Fu
Headquarters 10035 Federal Drive, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America
Area served
 Worldwide
Number of employees
 45
Website elope.com

elope, Inc. is an American company headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado that designs, manufactures, and distributes costumes and accessories. The name is an acronym for "Everybody is Laughing on Planet Earth," a phrase they trademarked in November 2013.[1] As of 2016, the company's headquarters is staffed by 45 employees, with an additional 325 factory employees in Guangzhou, China.[2]

History

Founding

Kevin Johnson, Keith Johnson, and Franzi Fu founded elope in 1993 after traveling through Nepal, Thailand, Taiwan, India, Japan, China, and Indonesia. Products purchased from their travels were sold at a rented kiosk in The Citadel Mall, where they allegedly sold 1,000 hats within two weeks.[3] A Nepali factory began manufacturing elope designs, the first of which were Mad Hatter, jester, and stovepipe hats marketed towards skiers and snowboarders. Following a year of little snowfall, elope brought products to their first Halloween trade show.[4][5] In 1995, the company was officially incorporated as elope, Inc.[6]

Locations

elope rented its first non-residential headquarters, a 2,800 square foot warehouse, in 1999.[7] Two years later, the company purchased its first building, an 18,000 square foot office space, and moved their headquarters there. According to the Colorado Springs Business Journal, a 300% growth rate in 2003 meant "expansion was imminent," and 2004 saw the purchase of a larger, 55,000 square foot building.[8][3] Their current headquarters were purchased on October 10th, 2012.[9]

Manufacturing

In an interview with Rocky Mountain News, CEO Kevin Johnson described elope's international business model as fair trade.[3] Following quality control issues with their previous Nepali manufacturer, elope partnered with Zhan Gong in 2003 to construct a 125,000 square-foot manufacturing plant and adjacent sleeping quarters in Guangzhou, China. A Feng Shui expert was hired to analyze the building site, and was consulted throughout the entire process.[8][10][11]

elope estimated a $1 million loss following the West Coast Port-Labor Dispute of 2002.[12] In 2012, The company was contacted by Anthony E. Held, PhD, and given a 60-day Notice of Violation pursuant to Proposition 65 with allegations that they had sold Halloween costumes and accessories containing DEHP, DBP, BBP, arsenic, cadmium, and lead in California without the appropriate hazard warning labels.[13] They agreed to not sell any product in the State of California unless they met reformulation standards outlined in the settlement.[14]

Products

elope has licenses from popular brands including Disney, Doctor Who, Dr. Seuss, Hasbro, Harry Potter, and Where's Waldo. In 2016, the company announced "Bricky Blocks", accessories that could be customized with LEGOs.[15][16][17]

Partnerships

Waldo Waldo 5K

The Waldo Waldo 5K was founded by Chelise Foster, an elope employee, following the Waldo Canyon fire. As presenting sponsor, elope provides Waldo and Wenda costumes at discounted rates, in addition to monetary and staffing support. Raised funds go towards "Waldo Canyon restoration, disaster relief, fire recovery, outdoor activities and trails and open space maintenance in the local community."[18][19][20]

St. Baldrick's Foundation

In 2001, elope partnered with the St. Baldrick's Foundation to host a shaving event in Colorado Springs, Colorado. As of 2016, Fox 21 News claims the company has donated 20,000 hats, and raised over $1.2 million for pediatric cancer research.[21][22]

References

  1. ↑ "EVERYBODY'S LAUGHING ON PLANET EARTH Trademark of elope, Inc. - Registration Number 4661999 - Serial Number 86109659 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2016-06-10.
  2. ↑ "Noted: Absent at town hall". Colorado Springs Independent. November 3, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Caley, Nora (June 2, 2004). "Hat Trick - Brothers Score Success With Whimsical Headgear". Rocky Mountain News – via HighBeam.
  4. ↑ Mendoza, Monica (September 10, 2010). "Elope hangs its hat on annual Halloween sales". Colorado Springs Business Journal. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  5. ↑ Handy, Ryan (July 12, 2011). "Local business tries to keep world laughing". The Gazette. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Colorado Secretary of State Summary". www.sos.state.co.us. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  7. ↑ Gonzales, Lou (June 14, 1999). "Colorado Springs, Colo., Brothers Create International Hat Company.". The Gazette. Retrieved June 22, 2016 – via HighBeam.
  8. 1 2 Gurwell, Lance (April 4, 2003). "Comical hats, China plant mean big business for Elope". Colorado Springs Business Journal.
  9. ↑ "10035 Federal Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80920 | PropertyShark". www.propertyshark.com. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  10. ↑ Saint, Steven (December 2003). "Elope Hats makes all its products in mainland China. We went there with CEO Kevin Johnson to see how it's done.". Front Range Business.
  11. ↑ Sweet, Amy Gillentine (2007-11-23). "Simple handshake foundation for Elope's Chinese partnership". The Colorado Springs Business Journal. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  12. ↑ Nesbitt, Sara (October 5, 2002). "Port closures worry Springs merchants". The Gazette (Colorado Springs, CO). Retrieved June 22, 2016 – via HighBeam.
  13. ↑ "Elope Inc.". The Chanler Group Attorneys at Law. The Chanler Group. May 31, 2012. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Held v. Elope, Inc.". The Chanler Group Attorneys at Law. The Chanler Group. October 2, 2012. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Thinking outside the blocks: elope Inc. announces new build-on accessories for 2016". Toy Fair 2016: elope INC. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
  16. ↑ "Hat-, sunglass-maker has it made in shade/ Elope founder named Business Person of Year". 2003-06-13.
  17. ↑ Nesbitt, Sara (November 13, 2001). "Springs company takes off its hats to Harry Potter". The Gazette (Colorado Springs, CO). Retrieved June 22, 2016 – via HighBeam.
  18. ↑ Mulson, Jen (October 14, 2015). "Waldo Waldo 5K helps raise funds for Waldo Canyon restoration". The Gazette. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  19. ↑ Bergsten, Tim (September 23, 2015). "Chelise Foster: Waldo's star in stripes". The Independent. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  20. ↑ Posted by Tim Bergsten on October 16, 2013 at 1:23pm in News and Features; Discussions, Back to News and Features. "Q&A with Chelise Foster, the creative go-getter behind the Waldo Waldo 5K". Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  21. ↑ Fisher, Kody (February 10, 2016). "Funny hats help raise money for childhood cancer research". KXRM-TV. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Corporate Partners | St. Baldrick's". www.stbaldricks.org. Retrieved 2016-06-24.

External links

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