DELAWARE

Local inventors hoping to make it big with Connect a Clip

Gray Hughes

The Daily Times

Christopher Gibbons is president of Connect a Clip based out of Lincoln, Del., and manufactured out of Pocomoke, Md. He co-invented a product that helps to display flags and seasonal decor.

Imagine never having to use a screw to hang something from your deck post, mailbox or downspouts.

That's the vision local businessman Christopher Gibbons has for Connect a Clip.

Gibbons markets the product from his company, Gibbons Innovations, as "The Instant Display Solution!"

"This item was designed for lawn and garden," Gibbons said. "The clip itself is sort of like a screw."

Connect a Clip can be used for hanging holiday decorations, seasonal accents, home decor, plants, thermometers, flags, banners and signs, he said.

The product works by sliding the Connect a Clip onto the post and attaching either the hook attachment or the flag attachment. No tools are required.

Connect a Clip was designed in Lincoln, Delaware, and is manufactured in Pocomoke City.

"We got pricing from all over the world but it turned out Pocomoke was actually 2 cents less expensive to produce than China," Gibbons said. "Can you believe it? And they’re great people."

The idea for Connect a Clip came with assistance from Gibbons' brother, Jeff.

Jeff Gibbons designed a candy cane for Christmastime that could be connected to a drainpipe.

"And I stopped by his house, and he said 'Check this out' and went snap, snap and plugged it in," Chris Gibbons said. "He put lights on it and it was a candy cane. And I said 'The candy cane is cool, but how did you get it to go up and down so quickly?' And that’s when he turned around and he had drain pipe fittings turned around in the inside of it.

"And all I saw were products."

Chris and Jeff Gibbons work together to design and market the product, with Chris Gibbons spearheading much of the marketing.

Connect a Clip is in 250 stores nationwide and 50 stores on Delmarva, Gibbons said, and has a recommended retail price of $9.99.

Jay Barmack, at Holly's Treasure Chest in Fenwick, said they have had the Connect a Clip for only a couple of weeks, but sales are doing well.

"It's good stuff," he said. "It's a good product; it really is. You can do a lot with it."

The product is being well received in Maryland, too.

Cheryl Ruhland, a cashier with How Sweet It Is in Eden, said they've had it for two weeks.

"We have sold two," she said. "That's pretty good for something that's brand new."

Because reception to the product has been warm, Gibbons said, they are working on an advertising campaign to generate more interest in the product. They hired a company called Lawn and Garden Performance Group to help market the product across America.

"Before, we just put it in the stores, and people were bumping into it," Gibbons said. "And for people bumping into it, our sales numbers were really good."

Part of their plan is to work with major retailers — such as Wal-Mart, Menards, Lowes and Home Depot — and they are already working with Ace Hardware.

But getting in with the major retailers is not easy, Gibbons said, citing the paperwork.

"It took nine months just to onboard with Ace. So you don’t want to be ready to sell them and then you have to wait nine months to do all this onboarding. ... We have done all the paperwork to become established vendors with these retailers, and now it’s time to create our first success."

In order to keep the company expanding, though, Gibbons said they need to continue to raise money.

Doing that is no easy feat, he said, but he added he feels comfortable doing so.

"It is very hard to raise capital," he said. "I never had to raise capital before. I had no idea how to do it. We have been very fortunate to have people around us who have done it and taught us how. That doesn’t make it a whole lot easier but I love challenges. When somebody tells me I can’t do something I have to go do it."

On Twitter @hughesg19