Entrepreneur finds niche in accessorizing work gloves (+VIDEO)

Instead of finding a way into the glove market, entrepreneur Arthur Stanfill created his own – and a name, too.

The Wichita native has created Toggers, gloves equipped with accessories that combine the benefits of a glove with the practicality of an accessory.

Stanfill’s first type of Togger comes with LED lights attached to the knuckles, a tool for workmen, athletes or anyone searching for something in the dark. Toggers with different accessories, such as a GPS device, will be hitting the market – his market – by the end of this year.

In 2012, Stanfill moved to Portland, Ore., to be closer to his daughter, who works for Ironclad Gloves, one of the world’s largest glove manufacturers. He noticed how their work gloves were essentially just gloves. For example, a plumber wearing the gloves still had to hold a flashlight in one hand, a tool in the other.

Like a light that would soon adorn the top of his gloves, the bulb in his head blinked.

Prototype development lasted six months in his daughter’s garage.

Portland plumbers and electricians bought out his first supply. “I couldn’t make them fast enough,” Stanfill said.

In 2013, Stanfill moved back to Wichita to focus exclusively on his glove project. Because of a previous working relationship, he partnered with Goodwill Industries for the manufacturing.

He began to look beyond the work glove and developed light-equipped gloves for hunters and traffic workers. Runners and cyclists were next; the fingerless gloves have lights with the capability to flash, warning drivers of their proximity.

In August, his latest model will debut. This type is also fingerless, but made of padded leather and designed for veterans who use wheelchairs.

Stanfill himself is a veteran. At age 17 he left for Vietnam, where he served in the Army’s special forces as a combat engineer. He came back 3 1/2 years later with a newfound independence.

“I always thought I had more to offer by myself than working for someone else,” he said.

Stanfill spent the next 30 years in corporate advertising, most while operating his own company, Arthur Stanfill. The name was only meant to be a placeholder until he came up with something more creative. But it stuck.

He designed mall signs and billboards seen across the city, including Wichita’s first LED billboard, he said.

Now 58, Stanfill manages 17 employees contracted through Goodwill and has sold more than 3,500 pairs of gloves.

He attributes some of his success to Service Corps of Retired Executives, a nonprofit network of retired business people who volunteer their time and expertise to budding entrepreneurs.

“SCORE was monumental in bringing this thing around,” Stanfill said. “You’re talking to people who are completely un-invested in your project, so they’re totally honest.”

One of Stanfill’s SCORE mentors, Neill Bryan, said Stanfill is a “born salesman” who “doesn’t sit on his hands.”

Stanfill is in the process of producing samples for Nike. He hopes to get his products on national commercials and infomercials that would bring money – and jobs – to his home state.

“We’re loyal Kansans and always will be,” he said.

Stanfill’s Kansas customers include the Boy Scouts and McConnell Air Force Base personnel. Social media and simple word-of-mouth have drawn in customers, but his price, $24.95 per pair, also helps.

“People tell me they can’t buy a regular pair of gloves for less than that,” he said.

Outside of Kansas, Stanfill talked to college students roaming university bookstores. Those looking to fundraise can sell fleece Toggers and pocket part of the profit. He’s already worked with groups at Stanford University, the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Oregon.

“They’re sick and tired of selling hats and T-shirts,” he said.

And the profit margin is often much smaller for those products, he said. Students earn $9.24 a pair from Stanfill.

The product sells well at sporting events, especially when the order is customized with an embroidered logo, he said. Stanfill plans to expand the fundraiser to Kansas universities this year.

The ideas keep coming. The trick, Stanfill said, is to “see the next evolution of a product.”

Take the pencil, for example. It was only a matter of time after its creation before inventors saw the need for an eraser.

That’s what Stanfill calls “the formula that never fails.”

The next evolution for Toggers is GPS-equipped gloves that will be for sale in early October. The GPS device can connect to cellphones, so a mother can find her child playing in the woods if he wanders too far. The device also can send out an SOS signal in case of an emergency.

Stanfill is also developing gloves with built-in pressure sensors that will beep if workers lift more than the Occupational Health and Safety Administration-mandated 40 pounds. Companies can expect this product to hit the market in January.

Stanfill’s gloves are available online at www.jaksgear.com.

This story was originally published July 10, 2015 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Entrepreneur finds niche in accessorizing work gloves (+VIDEO)."