SAND SPRINGS, Okla. — "Chill-N-Reel" is the only drink insulator you can fish with," says Jake Rutledge, "Chill-N-Reel" creator.
It’s a koozie, and a fishing pole combined.
Rutledge says he got the idea after vacationing in Florida.
“When you're in Destin, Florida at every beach, and you bring a rod out there, you're gonna get the stink eye. I took my koozie at that time and I tied a line at the bottom and wrapped it around. I would pull some out, pitch it, catch one, reel it in. the problem was I kept spilling my drink all over the place. And it was a hassle having to unwind everything and throw it out so I thought, there's gotta be a better way.'”
He says it took him a couple of years to turn his idea, into a product available to buy.
"We came up with the prototype in 2017 two years later. We applied for out patent. By 2019 we had an injection mold company making them, here in Tulsa. They are assembled in Oolagah."
Rutledge says he takes pride in the fact that his company, stays local.
"That was my goal from the beginning people said you need to go overseas to get this made. But this is a product made by rednecks, for rednecks, so we cant just go overseas. That’s not in our nature."
Now - Rutledge has a chance to see his product on the shelves at Walmart.
This week - he will pitch "Chill-N-Reel" to Walmart merchants.
He will have 30 minutes to demo and explain his product in hopes, the retail giant will take the bait.
"That would just.. oh. It’s the number one retail outlet in America so if you get into the number one retail outlet in America you know. The sky is the limit."
The open call event is Tuesday and Wednesday.
The other local finalist in the open call event is Bill Robertson, the owner and CEO of Grandma’s Poison Ivy Bar.
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