Thread Wallets is a pack and bag brand founded in Provo, Utah, in 2014.
One of the first questions Colby Bauer asked McKenzie after they met in 2014 was "Do you own a sewing machine?" As pickup lines go, it came with a business plan. She had one from Christmas when she was 12, and Thread Wallets started on it in her childhood bedroom in Provo. He brought elastic from JOANN. She wanted a key ring, so she chopped up some of her headbands and sewed them on to hold it.
Colby had lost his last wallet jumping into the ocean in Hawaii with it in his boardshorts, and had carried a rubber band since. After their August wedding, the couple took 1,000 wallets to Hawaii to sell at farmers markets. They figured 10 wallets a day would bring in $50,000 to $60,000 a year. Their first official year, 2015, brought in about $130,000.
A Kickstarter asking $5,000 finished past $35,000. McKenzie says Thread has been bootstrapped and profitable from day one, partly because the wallets were cheap to make. The Bauers later bought the Old Rock Church off Center Street, empty for about 11 years, for headquarters. The wallet that replaced a rubber band now has a 20,000 square foot home.
Thread's wallets were first sold to bankroll custom soccer socks planned with a BYU teammate named Romy, until the wallets took off and the sock order was canceled.
Simple and easy to use. A great design.
Alex
