A small Rockville, Maryland, business is partnering with Walmart to sell a unique product the company calls the better booger picker tool for babies.
“It’s just a better way to clean your baby’s nose,” said Nina Farzin, the founder of the company and the product Oogiebear.
Farzin is the mother of three and holds a doctor of pharmacy degree.
“The booger picker. It’s the better booger picker. That’s what we refer to ourselves as,” Farzin said. “All the traditional, older methods address suction. And it just did not serve my daughter very well.”
The tool — promoted as a device to clear a baby’s nasal passages of mucus and ear canals of wax — includes a picking wand on a broad base that depicts the face of a bear.
“And the bear face is not just cute, it actually prevents the product [from going] further up the nose or inside the ear,” Farzin said.
Pediatricians counsel parents not to worry about ear wax and not to put anything in a child’s ear canal, but Farzin insists the limited access allowed by the design makes it safe.
The product is already available from some online retailers and at BuyBuy Baby stores. Farzin said it will be in some Target locations beginning in 2021.
Oogiebear will also be partnering with Walmart and Sam’s Club after a successful pitch during the company’s Open Call virtual event to review products made by U.S. manufacturers.
“Walmart is giving us access to their stores,” she said. “We are just thrilled they want it in their stores.”
Guidance from Walmart thus far has included suggestions about changes to the design of the packaging.
“We’re ready to go to the next level, and I think that’s what Walmart is able to do for us,” Farzin said.
Oogiebear has 11 employees; some are part time.
Touting the success of Walmart’s first-ever virtual Open Call event, senior vice president for global sourcing and U.S. manufacturing Laura Phillips said in a news release that the company is thrilled to offer small businesses channels and avenues to success.
“It’s truly inspiring to see the strong entrepreneurial spirit of this year’s participants. Despite the challenges small businesses have faced this year, they’ve brought incredible energy, innovation and ingenuity to their product pitch meetings, and we are excited about what this means for our customers, our communities and our commitment to source an additional $250 billion in U.S. manufactured products that support American jobs,” Phillips said.
See how to use the Oogiebear below.
