180s, L.L.C. | New Name, New HQ in 2003
New Name, New HQ in 2003
Growth left Big Bang desperate for more office and warehouse space. In April 2003 the company signed a seven-year lease on 50,000 square feet of offices in the Hall of Exploration at the Columbus Center, a former marine science museum on Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The company began shifting employees into the new space, which would include a retail outlet, in December 2003. Big Bang Products was renamed 180s, L.L.C. in early 2003, and sales reached $47 million that year. The Baltimore Sun quoted a SportScanINFO study giving 180s a 4.1 percent share of the winter headwear market. By October 2003, the company had shipped 15 million units, reported the Baltimore Business Journal.
The distinctive 180s ear warmers were seen on high-profile figures, including, reported the Sun, three Supreme Court justices who had worn them to the presidential inauguration of George W. Bush. Big Bang relied on guerilla marketing techniques and gave away lots of product to create awareness quickly. The company distributed ear warmers and sunglasses to movie stars at the Sundance Film Festival. Eventual product placements included Matt Damon wearing 180s in the comedy Stuck on You. Big Bang also sponsored the 2000 Bud Light Beach Volleyball Series, dispensing 1,000 Snap-2-It beach mats to division winners, and donated half of a 1,000-unit order of sunglasses to U.S. Marines in Afghanistan. The company showcased its 2004 lineup at Baltimore's Shamrock 5K Run, which drew 4,000 participants.
180s continued to look for products to reinvent. According to its research, nine out of ten glove wearers complained of cold fingers. 180s debuted its innovative Exhale gloves in September 2003. With the Exhale Heating System O, users could distribute heat from their breath throughout the glove, particularly the fingertips, without having to take the gloves off. Fortune called them one of the six best outdoor products of the year.
New products in development included ear warmers with built-in headphones supplied by JVC Company of America. 180s also sold headphones designed to fit into the ear warmers separately, for about $20 a pair.
The company owned about 100 patents and patents pending and aggressively pursued purveyors of knock-offs. By 2004, 180s had filed more than 100 copyright infringement lawsuits.