| Busy mom organizes life around Koupon Keeper |
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| Written by Larry Rea | |
| Sunday, 11 December 2005 | |
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{Copyright 2005 Commercial Appeal; Reprinted with permission}
There was. Melanie, who lives in Lakeland's Stonebridge subdivision, came up with the idea for a coupon organizer. Not just any coupon organizer, but one that has a place for everything . . . from a cell phone pocket to debit card slots to a shopper's most important item - money.The Koupon Keeper ($19.95) straps to the shopping cart for safe keeping, making it hands-free and enabling parents to keep their children within reach. It's an idea that came to Melanie, a stay-at-home mom, about five years ago on a grocery shopping trip gone badly. At that time, she said, grocery shopping "was a much-dreaded job." That was when she had three children. Now she's got four - Ryan, 14, an eighth-grader at Arlington Middle School; Logan, 11, and Braeden, 6, students at Lakeland Elementary and Peyton, 4. Her own experiences helped her create Koupon Keeper. "I always save 30 to 50 percent using coupons," said Melanie, who grew up in a small town in southern Illinois. "So, I had to figure out a fast way to use coupons in an organized way. I needed them to be much more accessible. Over the years I've learned to match sale items to maximize savings." At first, Melanie put together a homemade version of the product. "Over the years I had so many people comment on it while I was shopping," she said. People would frequently stop and ask her where she got her coupon pouch. The more people asked, the more Melanie decided she could turn her idea into a moneymaking product. But she had to find a manufacturer. The Koupon Keepers are being made in China. She spent two weekends in November testing the Memphis market, setting up at two Kroger stores. Customers couldn't get enough Koupon Keepers, which are patent-pending. Melanie she sold eight cases (25 per case) during the trial run. "I've learned a lot about big business," Melanie said with a laugh. "I'm still trying to learn the corporate end of this thing. I'm just a stay-at-home mom trying to make things easier for a shopper. But I haven't had a negative reaction from anyone who has seen it. I've had people tell me they wished they'd thought of the idea a long time ago." Melanie, who is married to Tom and has a marketing background, has discussed the Koupon Keeper with author and speaker Mary Hunt, founder and editor of Cheapskate Monthly ( www.cheapskatemonthly.com ), whose Web site has attracted more than 2.5 million visitors and is the author of 14 books. "She liked the idea," Melanie said, noting that coupon keeping is big business in the United States . For additional information, call 619-1046 or check out www.kouponkeeper.com . |
Enough was enough, Melanie Badgley thought. After years of trying to juggle her four boys, operate a shopping cart and dig through a pocket full of grocery coupons, Melanie felt there had to be a better way to spend a few hours at the market.
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