YOUR AD HERE »

Tahoe resident’s bungee-cord business pushes to increase sales

Rob Sabo
rsabo@nnbw.biz
Paul Zahler of Incline Village has placed the Onegee in 25 regional retail outlets.
Courtesy Onegee Bungee Products |

More online

Visit onegeebungee.com to learn more about the business.

RENO, Nev. — As a longtime custom home general contractor, Incline Village resident Paul Zahler has routinely used bungee cords.

But when a friend called in 2012 and asked if he’d take over his project of bringing to market a one-size-fits-all adjustable bungee cord, Zahler was at a loss for words.

“I was very enthusiastic when talking with my friend about the product, and he told me to run with it,” Zahler said last week from the offices of Onegee Bungee Products LLC in Washoe Valley. “I said I don’t know the first thing about manufacturing.”



Fortunately, Zahler — who’s also a director on the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District board in Incline — had plenty of time on his hands due to the downturn in residential construction and took on the project full time. Onegee Bungee on May 13 was issued a utility patent on the hook assembly and expects to receive its official patent paperwork this week.

The hooks are manufactured in Santa Maria, Calif., and the woven rubber cording is made in Rhode Island, but the Onegee is assembled locally. Per-unit cost is $12.99 for two Onegees and $24.99 for four.



Zahler still is defining distribution channels for the Onegee, but to date he’s placed the product in 25 locations throughout northern Nevada and the Lake Tahoe Basin, including boat marinas, construction supply firms, RV centers, motorcycle dealerships and various Ace Hardware stores.

On the North Shore, the products can also be purchased at Mountain Ace Hardware in Truckee, Village Ace Hardware in Incline Village, Ace Hardware in Kings Beach and Swigard’s (True Value) Hardware in Tahoe City.

Ace by far has Zahler’s best outlet for sales — Carter Bros. Ace Hardware in Reno sold $800 worth of Onegees in just three weeks.

“I would love to have it in every Ace; that would be all I need,” said Zahler.

Part of the problem, he says, is identifying the optimal target market for the Onegee because bungee cords are so widely used.

Zahler has worked full-time on the advancing the Onegee to market since 2012. To date he’s invested about $100,000 of his own money into the project.

He’s seeking investment capital to help grow Onegee Bungee and also has been working with Rod Jorgensen at the Nevada Small Business Development Center at the University of Nevada, Reno, to define marketing channels.

“This has been a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants venture,” Zahler says.


Support Local Journalism

 

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Lake Tahoe, Truckee, and beyond make the Sierra Sun's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news.