180s, L.L.C. | Incorporating in Maryland in 1997
Incorporating in Maryland in 1997
The pair moved the business to a shared Chicago apartment in 1995. Two years later, they relocated to Canton, a suburb of Baltimore. Their new two-story, 10,670-square-foot building had started life in 1875 as a pencil factory and had also been used as a parking garage and a base for counterfeiters.
The company hired its first five employees in 1997. Le Gette and Wilson served as co-presidents and co-CEOs of the venture, which was incorporated in Maryland on September 26, 1997 as Big Bang Products, L.L.C.. A holding company, Gray Matter Holdings, L.L.C., was incorporated on February 10, 1998.
Sales reached $340,000 in 1998, when the product was distributed only through TV and catalogs. According to the Sun, after the company's bank balance fell to $1,000, Big Bang focused on getting products into department stores with the help of hired marketing experts. This was a turning point for the company, which would double its sales every year for the next several years.
New York's Paragon Sports became the first retail store to carry 180s, reported the Sun. Macy's, Eddie Bauer, Dick's, Nordstrom, Galyan's, and others soon followed. The ear warmers sold for $20 to $30.
Gray Matter began breaking even in 1999, and profit growth was soon in the double digits. By 2000, Gray Matter's sales were up to $10 million, a 750 percent increase in one year. The product line-up had expanded to include the recently added Snap-2-It folding beach mat/towel and the Aggressor, a radio-controlled airplane launched as a kite. The Gorgonz Group, Inc. was created on March 29, 1999 to focus on work-oriented accessories and industrial design. Big Bang opened an office in Paris during 2000.
Chief financial officer Gib Mason joined Big Bang in 1999. After his arrival, the company started a mentoring program for inner city students, dubbed "Little Bang."
The company's workforce numbered 31 employees in 2001. Sales grew to $32.6 million in 2002, when the company had 85 employees. More than 15,000 retail outlets distributed Big Bang products in the United States. They were also available in more than 40 other countries, and branch offices had been set up in Canada and France.
Ernst and Young named Big Bang "Entrepreneur of the Year" in 2002. Big Bang had introduced 35 different products over the years, though only ten items remained in the catalog. These included redesigned lightweight, scratchproof sunglasses, or "eyegear," whose earpieces folded over the front of the lenses to protect them. Another newer product was the Kelsyus floating beach chair.
Big Bang also updated the 180s with new fabrics, including leopard print and the like for fashion-conscious females. Women were enthusiastic consumers of the product; a separate line for them called From the Blue was launched in the winter of 2003–04.
Between 1998 and 2002, reported the Baltimore Sun, revenues increased 9,669 percent. This led to being named the fastest growing private company in the inner city by Inc. magazine and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City. The value of the original $2 million investment was estimated to have increased tenfold, reported the Baltimore Sun.