Dallas-based sock-subscription service Foot Cardigan is primed to make major waves.
Two of the company’s four founders, CEO Bryan Deluca and chief technology officer Matt McClard, will make their television debut on ABC’s “Shark Tank” this Friday night at 9 p.m. EST.
Deluca and McClard, along with COO Tom Browning and chief development officer Kelly Largent, launched Foot Cardigan in 2012 and have more than quadrupled their revenues — to over $1.5 million — in three years.
Now, the executive team is hoping for an even bigger boost following the airing of their episode on the ABC reality series in which aspiring entrepreneurs pitch to a panel of investors.
“We filled out an application for the show last year and it sat on my desk for six months,” said Deluca, adding that it was his co-founder, Largent, who ultimately urged him to submit the forms. “We thought, ‘our company is doing really well and we have a lot of momentum so we should try to scale our business and get [more] investment.’”
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Deluca and McClard said they believe it was their unique business model and eclectic personalities that caught the attention of “Shark Tank” producers.
“We’ve embraced the absurdity of running a sock subscription company — what we do is pretty funny and we try to be as entertaining as possible,” said McClard.
While Deluca and McClard could not give away the show’s outcome, the co-founders told Footwear News that viewers might see them lose their pants in one segment of the show.
“Our hope is that our episode provides people some humor and that they see that our kind of business works and does something for people,” said Deluca.
The company delivers adults and kids’ socks to its subscribers monthly — $9 for one adult pair per month and $11 for two children’s pairs. Instead of allowing users to pick the designs of their socks, the company surprises them with a unique style each month.
“Socks are a commodity too and we think people would love getting them delivered,” said Deluca. “And, no one gets fun mail any more! You either get bills or you get something you know you ordered from Amazon, so our socks are a fun surprise — it’s more about an experience.”
McClard — who designed many of the company’s socks and also created the brand’s website — said the process of filming “Shark Tank” was “stressful” and “super intense” but he’s looking forward to the response.
The co-founders said they’re now focused on continuing to expand the business and are even considering delving deeper into footwear.
“We have some pretty aggressive plans for growth; [we plan on] getting into shoes and other sock styles,” said Deluca. “We’ve just scratched the surface of what we’re capable of. We don’t know what’s going to happen on Friday but we’re taking a pretty educated guess that we’re going to have lots of new customers.”
Shoe brands Remyxx and Freshly Picked have also made appearances on “Shark Tank.”
