Greg Cronin of Clinton, Mississippi was trying to help his teenage daughter Ashley organize her school locker when he gave her a piece of plywood. When other kids saw it, liked it and wanted one, Cronin knew he was on to something. In January 2014, Cronin pitched his LockerBones business on Shark Tank. He was criticized for not calling mega retailer Staples (the company sells 30 percent of school supplies in the U.S.). Nonetheless, Cronin made a deal with Lori Greiner and Robert Herjavec — $175,000 for 50 percent equity.
After the show aired, Cronin said that appearing on Shark Tank “was more significant than the deal we received.” Three days after the show aired, he got an invitation from Staples to participate in their Back to School program. “While Shark Tank was a great success for us, Staples has moved us along faster and further than the sharks would ever have time to do,” says Cronin. However since then, the social media accounts of LockerBones haven’t been too active, and LockerBones are not available today on the Staples website. There are some available on the website and some LockerBones still available online at Amazon (see above).
