Memphian Jimmy Gould told MBJ in March that he wanted his product, the SoapStandle, to be spread throughout the U.S. in five years, and all over the world in ten.
About seven months later, he doesn’t see a reason to change that goal.
“Based on what we’ve seen so far,” he said. “That’s certainly not a stretch.”
Already, Gould’s SoapStandles — which serve as a handle and holder for soap bars, while eliminating the gooey, sludge-like mess typical of bar soap — are gaining traction domestically. The item is sold in boutique stores and on Amazon; and it’s ordered heavily by Dr. Squatch, the subscription soap service that requests the product in a forest green shade and rebrands it the “Squatch Gripper.”
The company — also called SoapStandle — has sold about 650,000 of its products, and should hit the 1 million mark by March or April. It's on pace to earn about $960,000 in revenue this year, and it could cross the $1 million mark if the product has a major Christmas season performance on Amazon, or if Dr. Squatch pushes January orders into December.
Most of the revenue comes from Dr. Squatch. Gould's company expects to make around $836,000 in 2021 from the service. Another $102,000 is coming from Amazon orders, while around $20,000 is being made from places like boutique stores.
The idea for SoapStandle originated in the shower, after a bar of soap, once again, slipped from Gould’s fingers. So, he bought modeling clay, shaped an oval, put points on one side, cooked it in the oven, and attached the tool to the bottom of a soap bar.
Gould’s invention proved effective; and when he couldn’t find a similar product on the market, he patented it, left his decades-long career in the investment world, and turned the idea into a full-time career.
These days, SoapStandles are made of plastic, and manufactured through injection molding. The current products can be used with curved bars of soap, but are most effective with flat ones, and Gould is continuing to work on a curved version of the product to expand the company’s reach.
As he notes, major soap producers, like Dove and Irish Spring, use curved bars.
“Those are millions of bars a week getting manufactured,” he said. “I think it might open us to a whole new batch of people.”
Something else introducing the SoapStandle to new people is a development from Dr. Squatch, whose products will start to be sold in Walmart in November. This will give SoapStandles a presence in a national retailer, though they’ll be sold as Squatch Grippers.
Eventually, Gould would also like to see his product sold by other national retailers like Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Whole Foods, under its original SoapStandle moniker. It has scored a deal with the Los Angeles-based retailer Beauty Collection, which will start selling the product in January.
On the international front, SoapStandle is still in discussions with the Dublin Grooming Co., an Irish beard care and shaving business preparing to launch a custom soap line. And it’s looking for a biodegradable material it could make the product with, which would expand its opportunities in Europe.
“I’m just trying to figure out what the next step is,” he said. “You never know, until you get something, and you try to sell it."
