How Shibumi Shades took over North Carolina's beaches
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A Shibumi Shade on a beach. Photo: Courtesy of Shibumi
Head to a beach along the coast of the Carolinas this summer, and the scene is likely to be dominated by the presence of blue and turquoise canopies flapping in the wind.
Why it matters: In just a matter of a few years, Shibumi has become one of the hottest outdoor brands in the country, selling hundreds of thousands of its lightweight wind-powered sun shades to beachgoers, spreading from its origins on Emerald Isle to beaches around the world.
Flashback: Raleigh-based Shibumi was started in 2016, when brothers Dane and Scott Barnes and their friend Alex Slater began thinking of alternatives for the umbrellas their family used at Emerald Isle every year.
- Inspired by the design of kite surfing equipment, the three began experimenting with ways to create shade that worked with the ocean breeze rather than against it.
- The first Shibumi Shade prototypes — named after an apartment building in Chapel Hill where the three founders lived while at UNC — were hand-sewn at home and sold through word of mouth.
- By the next year, they were getting so many orders they had to hire professional sewers and lease a warehouse in Raleigh. The project has always been self-funded, but as orders grew, the company tapped a line of credit from a bank to keep up.
By the numbers: It wasn't until the start of the pandemic, however, that sales began to skyrocket, with the brand's awareness growing both by word of mouth on the beach and online. That's when the founders decided to leave their day jobs to focus solely on Shibumi.
- Shibumi has sold more than 300,000 shades (retail price $250) since 2016, the Barnes brothers told Axios. Customers have reported using them on 800 beaches around the world.
- Sales are up nearly 10 times since 2019, the brothers added, and it's added several retail partners, including 140 Dicks Sporting Goods and REI locations.
- The company has 22 full-time employees and operates a 17,000-square-foot warehouse in Raleigh.
State of play: The growing popularity has brought with it copycat products trying to mimic the Shibumi Shade.
- The Barnes brothers say they stopped more than 150 copycat products by enforcing its intellectual property — a key strategy to protecting its brand, though one they admit is frustrating.
- It's one reason, though, the company only offers its products in blue and turquoise.
What's next: Now Shibumi is focused on how to sustain that growth going forward.
- In some ways, it is a similar situation another North Carolina product, the children's couch company Nugget, found itself in — navigating how to follow up a hit product.
- Dane Barnes says Shibumi's flagship product still has a big runway of growth, especially if it can get a bigger foothold in other regions, like Florida, Texas, the Northeast and California. But people don't tend to buy a new Shibumi every year, given the product's price tag and durability.
- So the company is also rolling out new products, including a new shade that produces less noise in the wind, which has proven popular already, and a product that helps the shade work on the days there isn't a breeze coming off the ocean. More products will come out next year, Dane Barnes added.
What they're saying: "We're not going to come out with a product just to do it," Dane Barnes said.
- "It's got to be representative of the Shibumi brand for innovative, thoughtful design and quality," he added. "Making the beach a better experience is what we are after."
