iPad support cushion brand, padpod, is gearing up for a big push into the gift industry with an appearance at Reed Gift Fairs August Melbourne event.
Its creator, 14 year old Ellie Jane, will also be the youngest person to exhibit at the trade show.
According to her mother and business partner Jenny Robinson, padpod is ready for a wider range of stockists.
“It is selling brilliantly in all kinds of shops but we don’t have salespeople on the road,” she says. “We are a small (but rapidly-growing) family business and enjoy establishing and maintaining personal contact with our stockists. We see the Reed Gift Fair as the perfect place to meet buyers and retailers and introduce them to padpod.
“We started making padpods some 18 months ago and now that there is considerable recognition of them by the general public, we have the confidence to take them to a wider marketplace.”
The product is made in Australia from spandex suede. It comes in six colours including energy red, ebony black and dragonfly green.
Ellie Jane designed the padpod in 2012 when her grandmother complained of not being able to hold her iPad comfortably. It was such a hit with the rest of the family she decided to take it to market.
Padpod has a wide range of stockists from pharmacies to book shops and healthcare clinics.
“Our stockists love padpod,” Robinson adds. “For many we have been their best-selling product, outselling competing products two to one. One bookstore owner reported that it was his highest selling non-book item.”
