Sometimes, I even have this problem – are you scared of anything that might be lurking around your bed or in your dark room? Fairytale Wishes seeks to remedy that by serving as a pillow spray that can help provide an extra layer of protection or comfort to any children, or even adults. How could a simple pillow spray stop any monsters from attacking you or your loved ones? Find out more below…
Fairytale Wishes on Shark Tank
Debbie Glickman is the founder of Fairytale Wishes, Inc. She is seeking a $35,000 investment in exchange for 33% of her company. Debbie starts by saying that when her son was young, he was too scared to go to sleep at night. To remedy this, Debbie invested in a $25 bottle of lavender pillow spray, telling her son that the pillow spray was actually a magic potion that would take him to sweet dreams. Either through a placebo or the use of the pillow spray, her son would fall asleep without issue, and Debbie would think to herself about the big idea of helping a child fall asleep through scent.
Fairytale Wishes produces a line of therapy sprays to help empower children through the use of yummy scents and their imagination. A couple of sprays of the signature lavender-scented Sweet Dreams would help anyone fall asleep. To help visually illustrate Debbie’s point, a large pair of monster “paws” come out from underneath the bed, causing an amused reaction from the sharks. Debbie then sprays it with the bubble-gum scented Monster Repellant Fairytale Wishes spray, saying that the scent will help to keep the monsters far, far away.
Debbie then distributes sample pillows to each of the sharks, each scented with their own signature scent. The lavender and bubblegum scents were offered, on top of the extra cotton candy scent. Kevin asks the inevitable question; how much does it cost to produce each unit? Debbie replies that it costs a maximum of $2.16 to make each unit, depending on the scent – some of the scents are cheaper to produce. Mark asks why would it be so expensive to produce the scents, to which Debbie replies that she makes it in the United States, but she feels that the public relations are the strong suit of building the brand. Each 4 oz bottle sells for $9.99, and over the course of 4 years, the sales only peaked the most recent fiscal year at $5,500. Robert seems shocked by the low number, and Kevin says that the number is nothing, and Mark interrupts and says Debbie’s answer to Kevin’s question is the ultimate red flag, that when somebody focuses their resources on just public relations.
Debbie provides reassurance by saying that when Bed, Bath and Beyond, a popular bedroom- and bathroom-focused retailer in the United States, performed a test run of Fairytale Wishes spray, they reordered three times within the first month. Around the holidays, the sprays were placed at the front of the store, but when they were eventually moved to the back of the store, the sales fell heavily. Mark simply says, “Welcome to the real world.” Kevin says that if they didn’t reorder, then the product did not make enough of an imprint to keep around; another product placed in the same location sold for a much, much higher profit per volume. Debbie continues to insist that despite the spray’s start of the success, the sales were hurt by the location of the item, to which Kevin says that a retail store like Bed, Bath and Beyond sees a new Debbie every day with another product, and the only time a Debbie gets to stay in is when a Debbie sells a product, but this Debbie could not sell enough.
Kevin drops the mic, then; he tells Debbie that she has a business, and not a hobby. He insists that Debbie
Debbie Glickman of Fairytale Wishes
take the rest of the inventory she has, put it underneath the bed, let the monster she’s supposed to be scaring off eat it instead, and move on. This draws a reaction from Lori, who glares daggers at Kevin and says, “That was rude.” Debbie says that she has never received anything other than positive reactions, and Barbara says that some of the most positive feedback in the world, and only feedback to be trusted, is from sales. Debbie says that she did not expect to get sales this high, and has come to Shark Tank looking for an investment from the Sharks that would allow for her to find someone who is savvy in the business side of things and could help her business to grow. Mark says that he does not think that Debbie has a firm grasp on “all of the different pieces,” meaning sales, marketing, and production, and Lori steps in to disagree with Mark. Lori says that she thinks the idea behind Fairytale Wishes is very creative, that it does have a future in helping some kids fall asleep, and she is actually behind the product. Kevin asks to know who is going to buy the sprays, saying that probably nobody has bought it; Lori defends Debbie by saying that Debbie had said it herself, that she was not good at sales. Kevin says that he just does not think Debbie has a business, and withdraws from the deal. Debbie asks if Kevin has kids (to which Barbara says that he feasts on his children), to which Kevin replies that if there are any monsters around that he would take care of it.
Lori returns to the business at hand, offering some helpful advice towards Debbie. She says that she does not think parents need that big of a bottle of spray (4 oz of spray, remember), and offers instead the idea of selling a 5-pack of smaller bottles. The 5 pack could contain a variety of sprays, but Debbie says that the smaller bottles are more expensive to produce per volume than the large bottles. Lori replies that Debbie needs to find better sourcing for this, but that she thinks that ultimately a new marketing plan would get the product onto a better track.
Barbara says that she does not think the full 5 scents are at all necessary; there should only be one magic spray, period. Barbara points out that yes, Debbie is creative and yes, Debbie’s product is somewhat selling, but she needs to refine the product into the ultimate Fairytale Wishes spray. She has faith that Debbie has the creativity to pull it off, but does not want to potentially lose her resources, and exits the deal as well.
Debbie then pitches an idea that she had come up with; to partner with Disney. Disney has 25,000 hotel rooms. Robert wants to know if Debbie has even called Disney. I knew the answer before she even spoke it – “Not yet.” Of course, the Sharks laugh this off, with Kevin almost losing control. Debbie says that she needs someone to help guide her into that launchpad, but Robert says that Debbie, by herself, was able to move the product into Bed, Bath and Beyond. Robert wants to know why Debbie could work so hard to get the product into a huge retailer, but could not be bothered to make a few extra phone calls. He then goes on to say that a goal without a timeline is simply a dream, and with no progress on the timeline, he is not interested.
Debbie asks for Mark to answer next. Mark says that when most entrepreneurs have their backs up against the wall due to sales being so low, the low sales are all the entrepreneurs can think about; this consumes them, it drives them forward. But with Debbie, it seems like she is afraid that somebody could take this all away from her, and says that there probably is; his suggestion is to get somebody else to sell it for her, and that she is not an entrepreneur, she is a wantrepreneur. Mark exits the deal as well.
Lori is the only shark left, and she starts by saying that she disagrees with Robert and Barb in that she does not need to refine her product down to just one bottle of spray. Lori has the experience with retail, namely through QVC, and thinks that Debbie’s creativity is fantastic. The problem is that Debbie has not tried hard enough to make her dream come true, and for such, is the final shark to exit the deal. Ultimately, Debbie does not find her $35,000 investment.
Fairytale Wishes Now in 2018- The After Shark Tank Update
Fairytale Wishes still exists in its basic form – the website can be found at http://fairytalewishesinc.com/
Fairytale Wishes still has the same sprays that were advertised/sampled out on Shark Tank, as well as some new flavors to spice up the mix. Fairytale Wishes is available in a wide variety of states (namely the continental 48 states, minus some of the middle territory such as the Dakotas and Montana) and some parts of Canada. Any exact numbers are unknown, but for a product to be selling in so many states, it can’t help but be assumed that Fairytale Wishes is succeeding.
