Sisters Stacy Fritz and Jenny Hutt and their friend Andrea Gluck want to see a deal for Bunny Eyez, their tiltable reading glasses, in Shark Tank episode 1504. The “Aha moment” for the design came when Stacy and Jenny were getting their hair done. They were trying to read, but the hair coloring kept dripping onto their readers making things difficult and messy. They wanted to be able to tilt them like opera glasses so they wouldn’t get messy.
The secret sauce is the patented black diamond hinge technology which lets you wear the readers in the traditional way or flip them so you can hold them like opera glasses. They got the idea for the company name from Stacy and Jenny’s mother, Bunny. Bunny passed away due to pancreatic cancer and the sisters wanted to keep her memory alive.
As for the readers, they come in a variety of styles and colors. They range in stregnth from 0 to 2.5. The readers come in traditional, sunglasses, blue light (for computers) and prescription compatible styles. Normally $35 a pair, they’re marked down to $25 in conjunction with airing on Shark Tank. The ladies likely want a Shark’s help with marketing and customer acquisition.
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Posts about Bunny Eyez on Shark Tank Blog
Bunny Eyez Shark Tank Recap
Stacy, Jenny and Andrea enter the Shark Tank seeking $200,000 for 10% equity in their company. Jenny tells the story about the hair salon that inspired the idea for Bunny Eyez. They are the first wearable, tiltable and flippable reading glasses. The women list the benefits and different uses for the glasses. They’ve made glasses more versatile than ever.
The Sharks examine their samples. The hinge is patented and lifetime sales are over $5 million. They started selling in the summer of 2018 and had a little over $600,000 in sales. In 2019, they did $1.9 million and in 2020 they did $1.3 million. In 2021 they did $700,000 and in 2022 just $400,000. Initially the response was strong and several celebrities talked about the glasses on television.
Setbacks
Stacy and Jenny tell the Sharks how they named the company after their mother who passed away in 2008. In 2020 they had supply chain and inventory issues. They also were taking their father, who’d been diagnosed with cancer, to chemotherapy. The business suffered because their energies were diverted. They devoted their time to redoing their website and on the day it launched, on Black Friday of 2022, their father passed away. They set their sites on being defined not by their successes, but by they’re defined by what they do when things get tough.
The Numbers
The glasses cost $3.70 landed and the case is 60 cents. They sell them for $35 and $40 dollars. The Sharks like the margins. They sell on their website and Amazon. The company is self funded with zero debt and they recouped their initial investment after year one. Mark says they’re killing it.
Daymond wants to know why they need a Shark. Jenny says they need distribution and they want to be in big box stores. They want their reach to be as big as possible. Barbara says every entrepreneur comes in the Tank and wants their reach to be as big as possible, she wants to know their marketing plan to get to that goal. They want point of sale displays that demonstrate the glasses and they think people wouldn’t want any other kind of reading glasses.
Who’s In?
Kevin says this is a mature industry and they’ve seen all kinds of ideas to do with glasses. He wants to know why they don’t go to the behemoth in the industry and discuss licensing their patent. They say they are in discussions with that company. Kevin says he’s not their Shark, he’s out. Mark thinks it’s cool but he thinks the market for readers isn’t demonstrable on social media, he’s out. Barbara thinks retail is a bad idea, she’s out. Daymond agrees with her, but he’s interested. He talks about “grandfluencers,” elderly influencers. He offers $200,000 for 20% plus $2 per pair royalty. When he recoups his $200,000, the equity goes to 15%. Lori thinkks it’s clever, but she doesn’t like the retail idea. She thinks Daymond would be a good partner, she’s out. They accept Daymond’s offer.
Bunny Eyez Shark Tank Update
The Shark Tank Blog constantly provides updates and follow-ups about entrepreneurs who have appeared on the Shark Tank TV show. The women said after the show in a press release “we’re thrilled with the response we’ve gotten post-show, and believe Daymond is the perfect person to join our team.” They also began to offer blue light glasses for computer users.
The Shark Tank Blog will follow-up on Bunny Eyez & Stacy Fritz, Jenny Hutt and Andrea Gluck as more details become available.
