Building Better Mousetraps Article Summary
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Published: June 08, 2007
Rehoboth Beach inventor Emily Beck has created products like City Mitts – sleek, black gloves imbedded with bacteria-fighting chemicals-and Sunshades, a sunscreen mask made of two laminated fabrics that deflects light so “you don’t have to put a T-shirt or towel on your face” when lying in the sun. The mask is being prototyped by a large drugstore chain in Delaware.
Beck’s biggest invention, the one she built LuLu Brand’s reputation on, are emmy b’s, a stain-fighting underwear for women. The bikini panties got available in February in several Wilmington, Greenville and Rehoboth Beach boutiques.
The inventor’s inventive inspiration comes from “everywhere” she says. Despite the fact that Beck Amtraks back and forth from Wilmington to New York, home of her LuLu Brands office, she has created all products in Delaware except for City Mitts. When she lived in New York City – briefly – she noted obsessive-compulsive holding subway poles with their pinkie fingers.
The mitts are now manufactured in Wilmington by Masley Enterprises, owned by Frank Masley, a former Olympian and W.L Gore employee, is barely keeping up with demand according to the favorable review in the New York Times in July. It reveals that mitts have become a hot commodity.
Beck’s success is based on a simple principle: There’s always a more practical way to do something. “The trick is figuring out what that is.”