SneakErasers Before Shark Tank
SneakErasers is a brand that manufactures a double-sided sponge that is used to clean shoes. One side of the sponge is white, and it consists of micro scrubbers that make scrubbing stubborn marks off easier. The other side is orange and consists of a softer material that gently and effectively cleans off any dirt. These SneakErasers are compact enough to fit in a bag for an on-the-go clean, and a single sponge can clean up to nine pairs of shoes. The sponge works well to remove even the most stubborn stains from any shoe, whether it is cheap or expensive. While the SneakErasers brand may focus primarily on cleaning shoes, they have also added a few new cleaning bundles to their line. Some of these new products include a PurseWipes bundle, a GolfErasers bundle, an AutoErasers bundle, and a bundle that combines the golf and auto erasers into one. All their products can be found on Amazon.
Chris Pavlica, an entrepreneur and freelance film director, founded SneakErasers in 2017, according to his LinkedIn page. Chris graduated from Ohio University in 2007 and went on to be a film director for BRC Imagination Arts for 13 years. On the side, he was working as a freelance film director, which he still does. Chris started his first official business as an executive producer in January 2008; he called this business Pavlica Inc. Pavlica Inc. is a company that produces television series for channels like the Travel Channel and Discovery Networks. In July 2013, he started his second business, Pavlica’s South Shore Resort, which he is the co-owner of. According to his LinkedIn, Chris still runs those two businesses along with his newest business, FTI Brands LLC, which is the company that SneakErasers runs under. 
The co-founder of FTI Brands LLC and SneakErasers is Kevin Consolo. Though he didn’t join the team until January 2019, Kevin also graduated from Ohio University in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. After that, his first job was with Nationwide Better Health, where he worked as the communications coordinator for two years. A few months after leaving that position, he became a freelance copywriter for a company called Rosetta. After quitting that job in 2009, Kevin worked with ECRM; he worked there for about seven years in a variety of different job positions. Lastly, before co-founding SneakErasers, he worked at The Unknown Brewing Company as a national account manager, although he quit this job after almost two years so that he could work for SneakErasers full-time.
The inspiration for the SneakErasers came to Chris in 2016, as he was getting ready to attend a pitch to the executives of Coca-Cola. After realizing that his sneakers had gotten dirty, he tried to scrub them clean with nothing but hand sanitizer when he suddenly figured that there had to be an easier way to clean them. That’s when he contacted Kevin, and they started brainstorming products they could create, thus leading them to invent the SneakErasers. The business started at Chris’s house, just right inside his garage, and it didn’t take long before they began selling the sponges in shoe stores. From there, SneakErasers eventually showed up in 35,000 different stores like Kroger, Family Dollar, Walmart, CVS, and many more. Given this expansion, it seems that SneakErasers has done exceptionally well; however, Chris and Kevin want to see it grow more. For this, they’ll need a shark’s help. 
SneakErasers on Shark Tank
Chris Pavlica and Kevin Consolo entered the Shark Tank on May 7, 2021, seeking a $200,000 offer in return for 8% equity in their business, SneakErasers. The founders claim that the business is worth $2.5 million. After giving a good introduction about their stories, Chris and Kevin demonstrate how their shoe sponge’s work. When the duo started this business, Chris had to invest $300,000 of his home equity into it. They then explain that it costs $1.98 to make the SneakErasers, which they sell for $9.99 on Amazon. Once they got the sponges into retail (about 100 stores), they conducted tests to determine the sales of their product. As previously stated, Sneakers made $202,000 in sales in 2019.So far in 2020, they have made $1.1 million in sales and hope to make $1.8 million by the end of the year.
The founders state that they came to the tank in hopes that a shark could help them with their marketing, advertising, and profit margins. With that, their first offer comes from Mr. Wonderful (Kevin O’Leary) for $200,000 in exchange for 15% equity in SneakErasers. Unfortunately, Chris isn’t willing to give up an equity stake in that amount at this time. Their second offer comes from Lori Greiner and guest shark Alex Rodriguez, who have teamed up to give the founders $200,000 in return for 20% equity. Barbara Corcoran is the first shark to depart from the deal. This leaves Mark Cuban as the last shark to make a deal or back out.
Mark ultimately decides to make Chris and Kevin a deal for $200,000 in return for 12.5% equity in their business. The entrepreneurs counter Mark’s request for an increased investment of $300,000 and a 10% equity stake; however, this unfortunately leads the shark to back out. The founders then turn to Lori and Alex and ask them if they would lower their asking equity. Meanwhile, Lori and Alex decline the counteroffer, and Chris and Kevin decide to take the deal anyway. 
SneakErasers Now in 2024 – The After Shark Tank Update
Chris Pavlica and Kevin Consolo’s SneakErasers business has skyrocketed since they left Shark Tank with a deal with Lori Greiner and Alex Rodriguez. As of February 2024, it seems that the deal they made with the two sharks did not close. Although, following their publicity on the episode, Chris and Kevin did receive a spike in sales from new customers who must have seen their products on Shark Tank. More specifically, SneakErasers sold over $500,000 worth of sponges within just a month. These sales came from both their website and Amazon. While this boost in sales was great for the time being, incoming orders did slow down a bit afterwards. Nonetheless, Chris and Kevin started advertising their SneakErasers on Amazon, which seems to be getting them more sales as well as over 1,000 great ratings. In 2022, SneakErasers was featured on Amazon’s Father’s Day Gift Guide.
Meanwhile, SneakErasers was successfully chosen to be a part of ABC’s Good Morning America with Tory Johnson. SneakErasers is now being sold in Coles supermarkets in Australia, as well as in many Walmart, Kroger, and Costco locations. As the product reaches more stores across the nation, updates on new locations and possibly new products can be found on their Instagram page. Furthermore, the business now has an estimated annual revenue of $5 million as of September 2022.
