Wal-Mart’s “Get on the Shelf” competition rolls on, this time with an Arkansas connection. Starting about the 4:55 mark in the video above, meet Kimberly McCain, the creator of the Eraselet, a wearable bracelet for kids that doubles as a pencil eraser. McCain, a mom who invented the product, is from Tennessee. But the Eraselet is made by Alliance Rubber Co. of Hot Springs.
You can vote right now for Wal-Mart to pick up the Eraselet at the retailer’s “Get on the Shelf” homepage. The winner to be announced Oct. 26.
By itself, Alliance Rubber is a pretty great story. The company, which produces rubber bands and other related products, was founded in Alliance, Ohio, in 1923. It opened a Hot Springs plant in 1944 after owner William Spencer visited the city for its hot baths.
In 1991, the company officially moved its headquarters to Hot Springs and consolidated all its operations there.
And here’s some interesting Alliance trivia: exports make up about 9 percent of its sales, with most of those sales to Peru, where Alliance rubber bands are used to hold together bundles of that’s country’s asparagus crops.
Sign up for Daily E-news
