It began as a result of Kent and Shannon Johnson have been looking for a option to entertain their 3-year-old grandson in inventive play that did not contain a tv or pc display screen.
Shannon Johnson mentioned they recalled making indoor forts after they have been children and when their three sons have been youthful.
“You bear in mind getting out the pillows and the blankets and the chairs and the tables and utilizing no matter you may to crush stuff?” Johnson mentioned.
“And we simply thought, ‘Is not there a less complicated manner to try this?’ “
They enlisted the assistance of mates Troy and Kimberly Lindemann, and shortly they have been designing and making prototypes. Among the early prototypes have been created on the GoCreate maker house at Wichita State College.
A Make-A-Fort package incorporates sturdy cardboard panels and foam connectors so children could make castles, mazes, tunnels or no matter else they’ll think about. It elevates the empty-cardboard-box-as-fun idea to a different degree.
“My husband mentioned, ‘I bear in mind after I bought Christmas presents. I would wish to play with the packing containers and do issues with the packing containers, whether or not it was taking part in within them or simply utilizing them to create one thing virtually greater than what the toy … was contained in the field.”
Kent Johnson and Troy Lindemann each have engineering backgrounds. And Kent Johnson has began and owned a number of software program firms over the previous 20 years.
After a yr of tinkering and getting suggestions from family and friends, the Johnsons and Lindemanns launched Make-A-Fort in August 2020 – in the midst of the pandemic.
It was a superb transfer.
“Lots of people have been confined to properties with the shutdown, lockdowns; children weren’t in class anymore,” Shannon Johnson mentioned. “Dad and mom have been simply looking for inventive methods to spend time with their children…
“You recognize, if you’re all collectively, let’s discover some issues to do … so we’re not bored and screens do not develop into the predominant option to go or a spot to cease.”
After a powerful vacation season final yr, the corporate expanded to Canada after which to Europe. It is added three staff and plans to rent extra assist for the upcoming vacation rush.
Make-A-Fort struggled to maintain up with demand final Christmas, and Johnson mentioned she’s involved about widespread provide chain points this yr. She mentioned the fourth-quarter accounts for about 75 % of their enterprise.
“Final yr, we had a really laborious time maintaining with the demand,” she mentioned. “And so we’d go on backorder for a few weeks, after which we get caught up. After which we return on backorder once more.
“So we’re making an attempt to alleviate that this yr as a result of we all know…the demand goes to be rather a lot larger than the availability that there’s in the USA with the availability chain points.”
Jonathan Gold is vp of provide chain and customs coverage for the Nationwide Retail Federation. He mentioned the issues Make-A-Fort may face are frequent this vacation season.
“I feel retailers, no matter measurement or channel that they are promoting in, whether or not they’re brick and mortar or on-line, everyone’s dealing with the identical challenges,” Gold mentioned. “Simply the truth that the availability chain is harassed from finish to finish.”
One other potential drawback is the labor scarcity, which is affecting all industries throughout the nation. Johnson mentioned Make-A-Fort is working to search out folks to assemble kits earlier than transport.
Gold mentioned a part of the availability chain points are associated to discovering staff for jobs at distribution facilities and in transportation.
“There are a whole lot of hundreds of jobs that have to be stuffed and simply looking for the employees to fill these positions has been a major problem,” he mentioned.
Regardless of that, the Nationwide Retail Federation expects the typical individual to spend $648 on items, the identical as a yr in the past and down barely from 2019.
It initiatives vacation gross sales throughout November and December will develop 8.5% and 10.5% % over 2020 to between $843.4 billion and $859 billion.
On-line gross sales are forecast to extend 11% and 15% to between $218.3 billion and $226.2 billion.
Gold mentioned his recommendation to shoppers is do not wait too lengthy to begin procuring.
“I feel that is a part of the recommendation that many retailers are in all probability offering to their clients is to begin wanting early for these vacation items that they wish to ensure that they’ll discover,” he mentioned.
Johnson mentioned she’s unsure what’s subsequent for Make-A-Fort. The corporate has gotten inquiries from different international locations about enlargement, however proper now the homeowners are simply concentrating on getting by the vacations.
“It is laborious to fathom the place we have been in August of 2020 and the place we at the moment are,” she mentioned. “I’d’ve by no means guessed.”
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