The Basics
- Company: Hold Your Haunches
- Owners: Erin Bickley and Jenny Greer
- Product: shapewear apparel for women
- Asking Price: $75,000 for 20% equity
- Final Deal: $75,000 for 40% equity, plus a line of credit
- Sharks Who Took The Bait: Barbara Corcoran and Lori Greiner
- Season/Episode: Season 5, Episode 23
Hold Your Haunches Before Shark Tank
Erin Bickley and Jenny Greer are the “head haunchos” of Hold Your Haunches, a women’s shapewear apparel line. They are two fearless Southern belles from Macon, Georgia, and their entrepreneurial spirit shows in their innovative product. “When it comes to business, we’re as tough as a peach pit.”
The two friends are both mothers with three kids each. Over the years they’ve noticed their reflections have changed – particularly when it comes to their legs and derriere. They’ve founded Hold Your Haunches to make their own product, a line of form-fitting, slimming, and flattering shapewear apparel.
“We’re on the cusp of something great, but the industry we’re in requires so much capital and so much expertise to even get to the doors, much less get them open.” They need the Sharks’ help to break into the industry and make it big. “We’ve put blood, sweat and tears into this, and if we don’t get a deal from the sharks, we’ll be heartbroken.”
Hold Your Haunches On Shark Tank: A Quick Recap
Erin and Jenny pitch their apparel line: a fashion product legging, with a fully integrated shapewear liner. It’s a totally unique, chic and one-of-a-kind product that offers smoothing and slimming support for all ages. It can be worn anywhere from the carpool lane to a cocktail party.
Charmingly, the two explain how as they’ve aged, despite all their best efforts at diet and exercise, they’ve been unable to stop their behinds from sagging beneath their underpants line, creating what they refer to as the “two-butt effect.” They couldn’t find a legging that included shapewear anywhere in stores. “Since we were unable to find our dream pant anywhere on this earth, we created it.”
The sharks are impressed by the before and after picture. Jenny passes out samples of the fabric, and the sharks confess they’ve never felt shaper fabric this intense.
Leave it to Kevin to start raining on their parade.
“Women of a certain age with, let’s say, Rubenesque figure. Let’s say they use your product. They meet a single guy who sees them a certain way,” says Kevin, while Barb and Lori start to groan. “But on the third date, it’s time..and they find out the horrible truth. This is false advertising. And there should be litigation.”
Robert also wants to know who’s going to wear their product if the shapewear fabric is too thick and hot. “It’s too hot.”
Lori comes to the contestant’s defense. “I just have to inform my fellow male sharks here, because I think Barbara already knows: women like shapers. They do. If they have muffin tops, thighs that they don’t like, whatever it is.”
Running the Numbers
Mark, Robert and Kevin drop out before the ladies can even discuss financial details, but eventually, Lori gets around to asking about numbers.
- Cost of production: $18 per pair, made in Asia; $30 domestically
- Wholesale: $69
- Retail price: $139
- Profit margin: 87%
- Profits for the prior year: $50,000, all reinvested into the business
- Total sales-to-date: $280,000 since 2010
- Total annual sales: $165,000
The men are impressed by the profit margins here, and it’s somehow deeply satisfying to know that their innate sexism pushed them out of the bidding before they even heard the numbers. (Serves you right, Kevin!)
The Bidding
Mark jumps in to say that while he understands “every push needs a tush,” this area isn’t his core competency, and he’s out. (Looks like we’re just going to skip the numbers section of this episode entirely – no sales breakdown? No profit margin discussion? The sharks must be getting tired.)
Robert drops out next, stating he can’t see someone using it because it just feels too heavy and thick. “Which goes to show, I know nothing.”
Barbara takes the opportunity to point out sexism: “Why is it every time we have a female-oriented product on this show, you guys go out right away?”
Kevin, meanwhile, denies that he’s a sexist, and holds fast to his claim that he “knows a lot about shapewear,” but maintains that his problem with the product is that it’s “false advertising.”
Thank God for Lori and Barb Shark, lest the entire show go down in chauvinist flames. After the men drop out like a simpering pack of gutless weasels, Lori and Barb jump in to save the day, with a fantastic offer that both sassy Southern moms are thrilled to accept.
Final Deal: $75,000, plus a line of credit, for 40% equity.
Hold Your Haunches After Shark Tank
Erin and Jenny’s business is doing so well that in 2016 they received one of Georgia’s most prestigious business honors – the Georgia Grown award.
The sassy Southern duo was featured in one of Shark Tank’s Where Are They Now? segments, where it appears that business was booming and sales were stronger than ever. Like most businesses, they received a significant boost in sales immediately following their appearance on Shark Tank.
The full Hold Your Haunches shapewear apparel line is now available to purchase on the brand’s website, on Amazon, and at a range of smaller retailers.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is strictly informational; INSIGNIA SEO is not affiliated with Hold Your Hanches Shapewear, SharkTank, or any of its subsidiaries.