elope, Inc.

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]

elope Inc.
TypePrivate
FoundedApril 20, 1993 (1993-04-20)
Founders
  • Kevin Johnson
  • Keith Johnson
  • Franzi Fu
Headquarters10035 Federal Drive,
Colorado Springs, Colorado
,
United States of America
Area served
Worldwide
Number of employees
45

History

Founding

Kevin Johnson, Keith Johnson, and Franzi Fu founded elope in 1993 after backpacking through Nepal, Thailand, Taiwan, India, Japan, China, and Indonesia. To offset travel costs, they sold products they purchased during their trips at a rented kiosk in The Citadel Mall, where they sold 1,000 hats within two weeks.[3]

They contracted a Nepali factory shortly thereafter to manufacture their hats, the first of which were Mad Hatter, jester, and stovepipe hats marketed towards skiers and snowboarders. In 1995, following a year of little snowfall and poor sales, elope brought products to their first trade show and began expanding into the Halloween industry.[4][5] The company was officially incorporated the same year.[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 10, 2012.[9]

Manufacturing

In an interview with Rocky Mountain News, CEO Kevin Johnson described elope's international business model as fair trade.[3] Currently, the corporation conducts the bulk of their manufacturing through their factory partner in Guangzhou, China, a partnership that began following quality control issues with their previous Nepali manufacturer. Construction of the 125,000 square-foot Guangzhou factory began in 2003, as a joint effort between elope and Zhan Gong. A Feng Shui expert 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 or other brick-building systems.[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, and has been hosting annual events since. 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. Archived from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  3. Caley, Nora (June 2, 2004). "Hat Trick - Brothers Score Success With Whimsical Headgear". Rocky Mountain News. Archived from the original on September 10, 2016.
  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. Archived from the original on August 14, 2016. 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. Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  8. 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. Archived from the original on 2016-08-11. 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). Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  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. Archived from the original on 2016-09-11. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  17. Nesbitt, Sara (November 13, 2001). "Springs company takes off its hats to Harry Potter". The Gazette (Colorado Springs, CO). Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  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.
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