A power couple from London, Ontario is taking home organization to a whole new level with the Kuvu, a product that can be used in multiple ways to hang, wrap, hold, loop, grab and store almost anything you can think of. Casa London Mag caught up with Ryan and Lori to hear about their success story.
Casa London: How did you come up with the idea for the Kuvu? And what does “Kuvu” actually stand for?
LORI: Well, it all started 3 years ago – when I was finally fed up with my son’s hockey stick always being in the way. I needed to figure out how to store it in the garage without being a safety hazard. I was so fed up that I wanted to drill a hole in my son’s hockey stick. Ryan obviously disagreed with that plan, so we started brainstorming and I drew up this type of storage tool that would work well with hanging wall systems. That is how the Kuvu was born.
RYAN: “Kuvu” is derived from the Swahili word “Kuvumalia” which means to persevere. We, as a family, played around with several more functional names; however, we found that Kuvu was a hit with the kids and it allowed us to be flexible with our ability to brand the product.
Casa London: What made you decide on making this idea into a retail product?
RYAN: After Lori drew up the design for the Kuvu and we realized that there could be many other uses for this tool, we made a family decision to go ahead with this financial investment. We have also been lucky to have made various business connections through Lori’s line of work as a dental hygienist. They have all contributed in the process of turning our idea into a retail product from the patent certification all the way to the logo design.
LORI: Yes, we can be proud to say that our product is authentically Canadian made – our manufacturer is based out of London and our packaging comes from Ingersoll just to name a few examples. I am also very fortunate that Ryan has a marketing background and has been very involved in ensuring the efficiency of the Kuvu website and looking for opportunities with local and larger distributors.
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