Local invention, Vestpakz, to hit Walmart shelves

Published 1:29 pm Friday, November 29, 2013

It was just a sixth grade science project for 11-year-old Christen Wooley Bell who attended Suwannee Middle School. The assignment was to find a problem and create a solution by inventing something. For Christen, it was a simple assignment. But little did she know that sixth grade project would one day be sold in Walmart stores across the nation.

“I knew she was going to do something big because she was a very creative child,” her mother Cheryl Wooley said. 

“I was asked to come up with a problem and solve it by inventing something,” Christen recalled. “The problem that I chose was heavy backpacks, so my solution was a backpack that distributed the weight around the body. This is how the concept of Vestpakz came about.”

Vestpakz can be described as a vest-like pack that performs the same tasks as a backpack, but distributes the weight better on the shoulders. 

“Actually, I thought it was pretty neat,” Cheryl said. “We made the first one from scratch. We cut out pieces of fabric and sewed them together. I said, ‘Hey, this is pretty neat.’ It was different and it actually worked.”

Vestpakz began to take off when her invention took first place at Houghton-Mifflin’s National Invention Convention in Boston, Mass.  

“They flew us back up to Boston and presented Christen with an award and recognition of her invention,” Cheryl said. “When that happened, my husband (Michael) saw the potential, got the patent process done and sought a manufacturing company. We did all we could to market it.”

Vestpakz, LLC is a family owned company. Christen serves as the president; Cheryl is the chief executive officer; Bell’s brother Casey Wooley is the executive vice president; and Michael Wooley is the chief financial officer. 

In 2003, Christen appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show’s “Million Dollar Idea Challenge.” Christen has also appeared at the National Science Teachers Convention and the Inventors Hall of Fame. 

“At age 12, she stood before a room full of famous inventors and spoke about the process of inventing,” Cheryl said. 

Christen’s unique story was published in a school textbook, “Exploring Entrepreneurship and Economics”, designed for middle and junior high students.

Arthur Grayer, senior vice president of backpack company Eastport, was introduced to the invention through Walmart. Grayer said Christen’s creativity to combine a vest and a backpack and the family’s efforts to promote the invention “hooked” him.

“I was first introduced to it (Vestpakz) by Walmart, and I loved the concept,” Grayer said. “I’m 100 percent handling this product because I believe in it so much.”

Eastport is Walmart’s number one vendor in backpacks. The family partnered with Eastport last year, and as a result of the partnership, Vestpakz will be distributed in over 100 Walmart stores nationwide next week.

“I think the Wooleys are a marketing machine,” Grayer said, laughing. “I don’t know if we could market it was well as they have.”

Grayer said the backpacks will be distributed to key stores nationwide to “get a feel for the whole demographics.” Tampa’s Walmart stores is currently the closest store that will carry Vestpakz. 

The next step will be to distribute the product to 1,500-2,000 stores and then eventually to all 3,500 existing Walmart stores. Grayer said there is also some interest in the product overseas.

Grayer also said he anticipates other retailers, such as Toys R Us, to carry Vestpakz.

“We have interest from many people,” Grayer said.

Grayer said Vestpakz will be available for purchase on www.eastsport.com beginning Dec. 15.

“Nobody has pushed this product as far as they have. They believe in it so strongly. It’s great to see that energy. That hooked me,” Grayer said. “They’re good people. I’ve worked very closely with them. This is a product that’s very close to my heart.”

Eastport’s headquarters is located in New York City across from Madison Square Garden. Due to the distance and his traveling schedule, Grayer said he stays in contact with the family through email and other means, and has worked with them each step of the way to achieve the final product. 

Christen, now 26, is reaping the benefits of her sixth grade science project. She resides in North Carolina with her husband, Daniel Bell, who is the minister of music at Pines Baptist Church in Knightdale, North Carolina. Christen is attending Southeastern Seminary and working on a master’s in women’s studies.

“It’s been a long journey to get it from a science project to being sold nationwide. I invented the Vestpakz when I was 11 years old, and now I am 26, so it definitely wasn’t an easy process to go through,” Christen said. “My dad saw potential in the Vestpakz from the very beginning, and without his vision and persistence the Vestpakz would not be where they are today. I am incredibly blessed to have parents that saw potential in my science project; we’re willing to make it a family effort, to be persistent, and to stick with it all these years.”

Christen continued, “Its a lot of work, you put your heart and soul into it. It’s a roller coaster ride of yes’s, no’s and maybe’s, always hoping that somebody is going to see what you see in your product. So our family is very excited that they are finally going to make their debut in select Walmart stores over the holidays.”

Cheryl said she is not surprised with the success that stems from Christen’s creativity. She recalled when Christen was a child, she was creative with singing and acting.

“When she was little, she would put on little shows for us. She always had that personality,” Cheryl said. “I’m very proud that she has turned out to be a beautiful young lady. I know she has a good future ahead of her because of the way she conducts her life. She always puts God first. I’m proud to be her mother.”

Dad, Michael, said he is proud of his daughter. 

“I am just amazed with it and to think it was invented by a young person,” he said.