Irvine-based Wet Products Inc. started out as a college project from founder Billy Christie’s favorite study spot: the beach.
The company, which now generates an estimated $10 million in yearly sales, makes towels, skimboards, lounge chairs, games, sandals, hats and other beach and pool accessories.
Christie started Wet Products in the late 1980s while studying business and psychology at University of California, Los Angeles.
He loved to play backgammon on the beach but could never find a backgammon board durable enough to withstand the sun and the sand.
So he started making his own games named Beachgammon by cutting up pieces of wetsuits and drawing on them.
Christie noticed the interest that other beachgoers had in his game so he decided to base his college thesis on Beachgammon and create a fictional company called Wet Products Inc.
It didn’t occur to him to turn his college project into a real business until friend and professional volleyball player Christopher St. John “Sinjin” Smith asked Christie to stock his beach supply store with copies of Beachgammon.
When Smith told him his supply of Beachgammon games had sold out within a few weeks, Christie decided to make Wet Products into a career.
Christie always knew that he wanted to be an entrepreneur.
After all, he grew up mowing lawns, washing windows, running carnivals in his parents’ backyard and selling coins.
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Christie: “I had no clue what I was doing” |
Christie borrowed $1,000 from his parents and used the money to have his games made and packaged.
He continued to sell products to Smith and landed his second customer, Coast Hardware in Laguna Beach, shortly after.
“I had no clue what I was doing,” Christie said. “It was a crash course in business, real-world style.”
Christie continued to juggle Wet Products and school before graduating from UCLA.
He set up an office in his father’s home and traded in his pickup truck for a cargo van shortly after.
Christie knew that he needed to offer more products in order to grow his business. He decided to become a distributor of other products including reusable water balloons, called Splash Bombs.
Christie worked seven days a week to get Wet Products off the ground and took loans from friends and family.
He made cold calls and drove to different stores in search of new accounts.
On the weekends, Christie would sell his products at the local swap meet.
Christie continued to mow lawns and wash windows to generate extra money, he said.
“I did everything I could to keep the business going,” Christie said. “I was never too proud. I lived at home, didn’t go out to eat or hang out with friends.”
Wet Products grew gradually over the years with Christie leasing office and warehouse space around Orange County when spare bedrooms in his parents’ homes became too cluttered with Wet Products boxes.
The company’s mascot, a water droplet named Wet Willy, became a popular icon in the beach communities and Christie eventually sold it to skateboard maker World Industries International Inc.
Today, the company operates out of a 20,000-square-foot office and warehouse space and leases an extra 15,000 square feet of space at the Irvine Spectrum, which is owned by Irvine Company of Newport Beach.
Wet Products employs some 15 workers at its headquarters and a handful of delivery trucks.
The company has grown beyond its roots in distribution and now is a manufacturer and seller of surf, pool, sporting, beach and toy products.
Wet Products runs 10 separate divisions that make hats, ukuleles, lounge chairs, flip flops and jewelry under the Wet, Lazy Lounger, Coastal Head-wear, Stylin’ Island and other brand names.
The company still distributes a handful of products for other companies such as Bomber Floating Eyewear sunglasses and Aloe Gator sunblock.
Wet Products sells its products directly to surf shops, liquor stores and hardware stores and sporting good retail chains such as Covina-based Chick’s Sporting Goods Inc.
The company competes with a slew of others that make beach and pool products.
Wet Products contends that it stands out against competitors by offering a lot of products. The company makes a bulk of its products overseas at contract factories to keep production costs low.
The company also is pushing aggressive sales and customer service programs, he said.
“We’re going to survive no matter what,” Christie said. “It’s the thinning of the herd right now and we’re going to come out of it stronger.”
Wet Products has had buyout offers and interest from investors over the years, Christie said.
But Christie isn’t ready to cash out of the business yet, he said.
“It’s my little guy. He’s got curly hair and looks just like me and his name is Wet Products,” Christie joked.
Although Christie isn’t ready to leave Wet Products, he’s taking stabs at other industries.
He recently started BC Business Consul-ting, an Irvine-based consulting firm that helps startup companies overcome their initial challenges.
“I went through all of the ups and downs,” Christie said. “I think I could really help other people out there.”
Water Work
Katy Burke was thirsting for a new career when she left publishing to make a dent in the overcrowded bottled water business.
She now owns Karma Quench LLC.
The one-year-old company makes bottled mineral water and bottled alkaline and calcium-treated water, which are believed to have lower acidity levels.
The privately held company doesn’t disclose sales and counts two full-time employees.
Karma Quench sources its mineral water from San Diego County and bottles it at its factory in Commerce. It bottles its purified water treated with an alkalizing agent and calcium in Downey.
Its water is sold directly to more than 30 restaurants and grocery stores in Southern California including Monarch Beach Market & Gourmet Shop, The Juice Stop in San Clemente and The Fish Bucket in Dana Point.
A 16-ounce bottle of water sells anywhere from $1.29 to $2.
Karma Quench makes up a tiny sliver in the water industry, which is dominated by PepsiCo Inc.’s Aqua-fina, Coca-Cola Co.’s Dasani, Nestl & #233; Waters North America Inc.’s Arrow-head and DS Waters
of America Inc.’s Sparkletts.
“Regular bottled wat-er is good but it’s still just water,” Burke said.
Getting Karma Quench off the ground was not easy, she said.
Burke and her partner thought about bringing in investors to help soften the financial blow that comes with getting a small business started.
They opted to self-finance everything, which was tough, Burke said.
The partners spent several months finding
a mineral water spring, a bottler and the right technology to treat their water, Burke said.
Building out their 5,000-square-foot lab in Downey was expensive and time consuming, she said.
Getting their water into stores also was a challenge since they were hawking an unknown brand.
“It’s a difficult process getting into grocery stores and restaurants because they’re bombarded with thousands of products,” she said.
Burke is optimistic that Karma Quench will be able to get into 100 stores by the end of this year.
A line of new products also is in the works, she said.
Karma Quench plans to come out with bottled water with higher alkalinity and mineral components for older consumers and individuals suffering from chronic illnesses.
A line of mineral shot packs and flavored water should be debuting soon, she said.
Karma Quench plans to come out with recycled packaging, she said.
The company also plans to hire more workers this year, Burke said.
Urban Gear
There’s another clothing company in town claiming an urban flair.
Irvine-based Lira Clothing makes T-shirts, accessories, flannel shirts, dresses and fleece shirts that are sold at boutiques across the U.S. and Canada such as Los Angeles-based Planet Funk and Costa Mesa’s The Closet.
The privately held company is backed by investors and doesn’t disclose revenue.
It employs nine workers.
The T-shirts are decorated with black-and-white photographs splashed with neon colors and flannel hoodies are made in purple, black and white plaid.
Lira Clothing products sell anywhere from $24 to $70.
Todd Kellogg started Lira Clothing late last year with a group of investors.
“It is always good to have a solid financial source and we have done so,” he said.
Lira Clothing started out with a line of T-shirts and accessories and got the word out about the company by hitting a number of trade shows and meeting with buyers.
The company still faced some challenges such as introducing a new brand in an already unstable economy, Kellogg said.
Lira Clothing ex-panded its collection of clothes and accessories as it started nabbing more accounts.
The company makes its clothes in America and overseas, Kellogg said.
Making products overseas allows Lira Clothing to manage sky-high production costs but the company still faces rising material, labor and fuel prices.
So far, Lira Clothing has felt a positive response from retailers as they continue to look for emerging brands that will help attract fickle customers, he said.
Kellogg is mum about how much the company expects to generate in sales and how many stores it plans to enter next year.
The company’s big goal is to introduce more products and meet consumer demands, Kellogg said.
“We want to continue to produce quality products and fulfill the fast growing demand,” he said.
