How Bogg Bag turned one product into a $400 million company

Sustaining a business focused on one hero product—the Burberry trench coat and Levi’s 501 jeans, for example—is no small feat. It’s an even bigger feat when that singular product spurs consistent year over year growth (and $100 million in revenue in 2024). But that’s the story for Bogg Bag, the lifestyle brand known for its perforated rubber bags made from EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate).

“For some of our customers, it’s aspirational. For some of our customers, it’s attainable,” said founder and CEO Kim Vaccarella. “They want to make life a little bit easier, so Bogg Bag is the perfect vehicle for that.”

Humble beginnings

Vaccarella launched Bogg Bag as a side project in 2008 out of a personal need for an easy-to-clean beach bag. Taking inspiration from her kids’ Crocs shoes, she sought out a factory to create bags made from a similar rubber material. Vaccarella placed her first large order for 1,200 units, but a manufacturing error caused black streaks all over the bags. She shelved the products and paused the brand.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Vaccarella used that batch of bags to donate supplies to victims and was surprised to later hear back from those people about how much they loved the bags.

“All the people that had received them started emailing me, and they’re like, ‘Where do I get more of these bags? I want them for gifts. I want to buy them for everybody in my family. This bag is the greatest bag I’ve ever had,’” she said.

Vaccarella then went back to the drawing board, found a new factory, and started introducing new Bogg Bag sizes in 2016. She slowly scaled the business while continuing her longtime job in commercial real estate. (She retired in 2018 to focus on Bogg Bag full time.)

“I just was making up numbers in my head and saying, ‘I need to sell $1 million this year to quit my job.’ We just squeaked $1 million in 2018,” she said.

Over the years, Bogg Bag has introduced three sizes of the original bag, as well as add-ons like charms, organizer pouches, and beverage holders. According to Vaccarella, the original Bogg Bag size still makes up 40%–50% of overall sales.

She said in 2023 sales hit $50 million; in 2024, that number grew to $200 million. Today, according to Erika Lopez, who provides PR for Bogg Bag, the brand has earned $400 million in lifetime sales.

Navigating Covid and beyond

When the pandemic hit, Vaccarella opted for a different strategy than most companies. While many were focusing on DTC channels, Bogg Bag continued its wholesale focus to help struggling brick-and-mortar stores. She worked with in-store teams to curate displays with Bogg Bags, like creating Easter baskets, to better connect with customers.

“I built the business on talking to the stores and trying to get the stores through trade shows to buy into the idea of Bogg Bag because I felt like it was more of a touch-and-feel product,” she said. “You need to tell the story of it.”

At the time, Bogg Bag’s business was 90% wholesale, which Vaccarella notes wasn’t the best move (“I didn’t know what EBITDA was,” she said), but that she “wouldn’t change that for the world” because of the relationship the brand still has with its wholesale partners. She said the business now has a “healthier mix” of DTC versus wholesale.

“We do see repeat purchases. We also see a lot of collectors, which is very interesting for a product this size,” she said. “We have customers that are like, ‘I have 16 Bogg Bags,’ and I’m like, ‘Where are you putting them?”

Bogg Bag is carried at retailers ranging from Target and Dick’s Sporting Goods to Bloomingdale’s and Anthropologie. Bogg entered Target in late 2024, and the announcement of the partnership generated $572,000 in media impact value, according to data analytics company Launchmetrics, which assigns a monetary value to social media engagement.

“What’s interesting about Bogg Bag is how steadily its visibility has compounded,” said Alison Bringé, CMO at Launchmetrics, in a statement to Revenue Brew. “The brand has clearly carved out a seasonal peak around summer, but what we’re seeing now is a more consistent performance across the calendar, a sign of broader traction.”

Bogg Bag is also carried at a number of small boutiques across the country.

“When everything felt uncertain during Covid, Bogg Bags gave us something to connect with our customers,” said Angel Rice, owner of South Carolina boutique Under the Carolina Moon, in an email statement provided by Lopez.

Going forward, Vaccarella isn’t planning on slowing down Bogg Bag’s growth. This fall, it will launch a collection of mixed material bags that she thinks will resonate with customers.