The Boppy Pillow was invented to accommodate a need at the daycare center that Susan Brown’s daughter was attending. Parents were asked to contribute pillows to stack around the babies. Brown went a step further and designed a pillow that encircled the babies, allowing them to sit and observe the activity around them. The company became official in 1990 and went about building sales through small Mom and Pop baby stores. However, because of the revolutionary nature of the product, getting stores to carry it was difficult. In essence it was a brand new category for the baby accessories industry. As Boppy began to gain ground with grass roots support, Brown found that acquiring start-up capital was nearly impossible until she found a micro-lender called Colorado Enterprise Fund to help finance the next level of growth. It wasn’t long before the usefulness of the Boppy Pillow caught on with new moms and the company was able to make the leap to mass merchandisers including Babies R Us, Toys R Us, and Target. As of 2011, Boppy has created its own feeding and infant support category in the baby accessory business, building a strong and vibrant business that has expanded into both prenatal comfort and play.
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