Rainbow Loom was created by Cheong Choon Ng, a
Malaysian immigrant of
Chinese descent who came to the United States in 1991 to attend
Wichita State University, where he earned a graduate degree in
mechanical engineering.
[1][5] He was employed as a crash-test engineer for
Nissan Motor Company in 2010 when he conceived the idea of a toy loom for rubber-band crafting while watching his young daughters make rubber-band jewelry. His prototype, which he called Twistz Bandz,
[6] used a wooden board, pushpins, and dental hooks.
[2] Encouraged by his family to market the product commercially,
[1] he invested $10,000 and found a factory in China to manufacture the parts, which he and his wife assembled in their home in June 2011.
[7] Ng renamed his product after discovering an elastic hair band on the market named Twist Band. His brother and niece came up with the name Rainbow Loom.
[5]
Efforts to sell the loom online and in toy stores were unsuccessful, however, because customers did not understand how to use the product.
[1][7] Ng started a website and filmed instructional videos featuring his daughters and niece.
[7] In summer 2012, Ng received his first store orders from franchises of
Learning Express Toys, a specialty crafts chain, and sales picked up.
[1] In June 2013 arts and crafts retail chain
Michaels test-marketed the product in 32 stores; by August the chain was carrying Rainbow Loom in its 1,100 U.S. locations.
[7] Rainbow Loom is also sold at Mastermind in Canada and in specialty stores.
[5] As of August 2013, 600 retailers were selling Rainbow Loom at a retail price of $15 to $17.
[1] The kits are manufactured in China, and Ng supervises distribution out of a 7,500 square feet (700 m2) warehouse near his home.
[1]
In 2013, Ng worked with The Beadery and Toner Plastics to produce the
Wonder Loom, a redesigned version of the Rainbow Loom that is made in the United States. The Wonder Loom is sold by
Wal-Mart.
[8] In April 2014, a travel-sized version of the Rainbow Loom was released called the
Monster Tail.
[9][10]
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