Type Private Number of employees 45 | Area served Worldwide | |
Founded November 2, 1995; 21 years ago Founders Kevin Johnson
Keith Johnson
Franzi Fu Headquarters 10035 Federal Drive, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America | ||
elope, Inc. is an American company headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado that designs, manufactures, and distributes costumes and accessories. The name is an acronym for "Everybody is Laughing on Planet Earth," a phrase they trademarked in November 2013. As of 2016, the company's headquarters is staffed by 45 employees, with an additional 325 factory employees in Guangzhou, China.
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Founding
Kevin Johnson, Keith Johnson, and Franzi Fu founded elope in 1993 after traveling through Nepal, Thailand, Taiwan, India, Japan, China, and Indonesia. Products purchased from their travels were sold at a rented kiosk in The Citadel Mall, where they allegedly sold 1,000 hats within two weeks. A Nepali factory began manufacturing elope designs, the first of which were Mad Hatter, jester, and stovepipe hats marketed towards skiers and snowboarders. Following a year of little snowfall, elope brought products to their first Halloween trade show. In 1995, the company was officially incorporated as elope, Inc.
Locations
elope rented its first non-residential headquarters, a 2,800 square foot warehouse, in 1999. Two years later, the company purchased its first building, an 18,000 square foot office space, and moved their headquarters there. According to the Colorado Springs Business Journal, a 300% growth rate in 2003 meant "expansion was imminent," and 2004 saw the purchase of a larger, 55,000 square foot building. Their current headquarters were purchased on October 10th, 2012.
Manufacturing
In an interview with Rocky Mountain News, CEO Kevin Johnson described elope's international business model as fair trade. Following quality control issues with their previous Nepali manufacturer, elope partnered with Zhan Gong in 2003 to construct a 125,000 square-foot manufacturing plant and adjacent sleeping quarters in Guangzhou, China. A Feng Shui expert was hired to analyze the building site, and was consulted throughout the entire process.
elope estimated a $1 million loss following the West Coast Port-Labor Dispute of 2002. In 2012, The company was contacted by Anthony E. Held, PhD, and given a 60-day Notice of Violation pursuant to Proposition 65 with allegations that they had sold Halloween costumes and accessories containing DEHP, DBP, BBP, arsenic, cadmium, and lead in California without the appropriate hazard warning labels. They agreed to not sell any product in the State of California unless they met reformulation standards outlined in the settlement.
Products
elope has licenses from popular brands including Disney, Doctor Who, Dr. Seuss, Hasbro, Harry Potter, and Where's Waldo. In 2016, the company announced "Bricky Blocks", accessories that could be customized with LEGOs.
Waldo Waldo 5K
The Waldo Waldo 5K was founded by Chelise Foster, an elope employee, following the Waldo Canyon fire. As presenting sponsor, elope provides Waldo and Wenda costumes at discounted rates, in addition to monetary and staffing support. Raised funds go towards "Waldo Canyon restoration, disaster relief, fire recovery, outdoor activities and trails and open space maintenance in the local community."
St. Baldrick's Foundation
In 2001, elope partnered with the St. Baldrick's Foundation to host a shaving event in Colorado Springs, Colorado. As of 2016, Fox 21 News claims the company has donated 20,000 hats, and raised over $1.2 million for pediatric cancer research.