The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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May 15, 2007

Think pink: Woman builds niche selling tools to women

By Melissa Dunson

mdunson@joplinglobe.com

Cindi Dugger wears pink, loves jewelry and admits to being a bit “girlie,” but she’s not afraid to fix a broken toilet, repair damaged drywall or lay tile.

Dugger, a Joplin resident, insists she’s not different from other women; she just knows what’s she’s capable of doing. Now, Dugger is taking her “can-do” attitude and her box of pink tools to other women in the area to help them realize they can do projects, too.

“This isn’t just about the tools — pink, blue, whatever color they are,” Dugger said. “It’s about empowering women.”

Dugger just celebrated her first year as a sales consultant for Tomboy Tools, which sells ergonomically designed tools marketed to women. Tomboy Tools was started in 2000 by three friends in Denver, Colo. The company has grown to more than 1,000 sales consultants across the United States and Canada.

The tools, made for a woman’s hands, are smaller than the standard varieties, Dugger said. The idea is to get tools in women’s hands that they will actually use and that make sense to them. Some of the company’s tools feature a tape measure with measurements of every one-eighth inch labeled, a lightweight compressor that can be picked up with one hand, and a utility knife with an easy-turning adjuster, so no screwdriver is needed to change the blade.

Tomboy Tools is based around home party sales that Dugger said allow her to not only get the tools into women’s hands, but also to teach some basic home repair lessons.

“I bring in a miniature toilet display, and I can teach them about basic plumbing,” Dugger said. “We can show basic drywall repair, and I’ve even done some simple upholstery. It’s very empowering for women to learn how to do that. They pick up the tools and say, ‘I can do this.’”

Dugger uses the tools she sells. She said she has always thought that if she needed a project done, it was her job to do it.

“I felt like it was up to me to do it because it wasn’t fair to my husband to ask him to fix the toilet or the sink as soon as he walked in the door from work,” she said.

Tomboy Tools launched its first series of pink tools last fall. The company still sells tools in black, blue and red, but Dugger said the new pink tools have been successful, partially because of the meaning behind the color. The 13-ounce Pink for a Purpose hammer has the inscription “Hammer Out Breast Cancer.” Dugger said $6, or more than 70 percent of the net proceeds, go to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Richard Johnston, senior research analyst for the Home Improvement Research Institute in Tampa, Fla., said women are an essential part of the home-improvement industry. The institute’s most recent consumer survey, with data from 2005, showed that nearly 38 percent of women surveyed said they had purchased hand tools for their households in the past year. Some of the most popular items women purchased were flashlights, measuring tapes, utility knives, screwdrivers and wrenches.

“Women are an important part of the home-improvement industry,” Johnston said.

Melissa Dunson is the business writer for The Joplin Globe.

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