Kevin and Laurie Lane are building Create A Castle to new heights.
The creators of the award-winning brand of construction sets and tools for building castles out of sand and snow scored the support of guest shark Kendra Scott on last week’s episode of ABC’s Shark Tank.
Several Create A Castle products, including the new indoor Buildmaster set, have received acclaim from our sister publication, The Toy Insider with multiple awards and gift guide appearances. Additionally, the original Create A Castle won The Toy Foundation’s Toy of the Year (TOTY) Award for Outdoor Toy of the Year in 2020.
“You might say we’ve already been swimming with sharks for four years,” Kevin says, “since the toy industry is fiercely competitive and dominated by a handful of major players.”
“However, it’s also an industry that recognizes and rewards innovative creativity,” Laurie adds, “and Create A Castle checks all those boxes.”
On Shark Tank, the Lanes caught the attention of shark Daymond John who perked up when the possibility of licensing deals for the brand emerged. Ultimately, Scott bought in with an offer of $350,000 in exchange for 20% of the Create A Castle business.
“Kevin and Laurie have what it takes to be the next Shark Tank success story,” says Kendra Scott. “They are passionate, offer a great product, and possess incredible growth potential. As an investor, I will help them build the business they envision, encourage them to dream big and, most importantly, create products that bring joy and togetherness to families everywhere.”
Earlier this year, Create A Castle inked a deal with TOMY Australia to extend distribution down under.
Over the past few years, Create A Castle has grown its sales efforts across both specialty and mass retailers due to partnerships with Walmart, Sam’s Club, Costco Canada, Dick’s, Sporting Goods, and others. Now, that retail network is set to expand.
“We’re almost like the toy industry version of a garage band that made it to the big time since we started in our garage and are now beginning to grow internationally,” Kevin explains. “We now have a strong pipeline of introductions slated for 2023, as well as new retail partners such as Target, Barnes and Noble, and many more. And we are going to continue to develop products to bring families together, one castle at a time.”
