Brief History

The concept of Piggy Pack first evolved in August of 1995.  A bunch of my buddies were packing for a bachelor party -  houseboat trip at Lake Shasta.  The five drivers all had Sports Utility Vehicles and we had tons of gear roped, taped, and bungeed to our luggage racks.

During the drive I watched the gear we stowed on the luggage racks whip precariously in the wind.  I thought of the large bike bag I recently purchased.  It was designed to pack bicycles on airplanes and it was huge.  Wouldn't it have been a lot easier to pack the bike bag with our gear and tie it on the luggage rack?  Then the light bulb came on...HEY, why not build a bag specially designed for luggage racks....?  I then started noticing all the luggage racks on cars and especially SUV's as they drove by.  Most of the rack were empty!

Why are all these luggage racks empty?  Because they are hard to use.  You just can't throw something up there and expect it to say while driving down the road.  Bolting a car box (car coffin) up there isn't always the answer because it ruins the vehicle's good looks, makes parking garages impossible, and is a constant source of wind drag and whistling.

A car top carrier bag, that's easy to install.  That's the answer.

I had a prototype model made for my vehicle and started showing it to friends and asking for suggestions.  I think it was a friend, Noele, that came up with the name Piggy Pack as a play on piggyback.  Pig cause it was big and fat, and Pack since it was like a backpack, only for the car.

After a few refinements, I made the investment to have 50 Piggy Packs made.  It took a long time to sell the first 50.  Most of my family and friends have the original Piggy Pack whether or not they really wanted it. (All of them are still being used today). After they were gone I formally started my company, Lakeland Enterprise, and made 60 more.  These were even better than the first ones, but I ran into a snag with the material, a rather embarrassing situation.  I almost gave it up then, but decided to stick with it.

Now, I'm building Piggy Packs by the thousands.  You wouldn't believe the number of problems starting and maintaining a small business.  Fortunately, I've found extremely helpful resources and thank heavens for the Internet.  Dealing direct with appreciative customers makes it all worth while.

History update:  2000 was a fantastic year with sales over double that of 1999.  Also, we received a patent for Piggy Pack design, strapping system and the use of accessory products.

2001 www.piggypack.com has received its third major site redesign, improving navigation and customer information.  This time I hired a professional to ditch that homespun look. In February I arranged for overseas manufacturing.   I, as much as anyone, like the good 'ol "made in USA" logo but it just isn't feasible to have textile products built domestically anymore.  While I will still try to have specialty color bags made here, the move overseas keeps me from passing on substantial price increases that I was faced with.  I believe Piggy Packs will be better than ever and STILL only $129, a price I started with in 1997.  2001 business doubled again and we're getting loads of positive customer feedback on the products.

2002.  We introduced two new CTC, the Sport, smaller and more economical and RoadMaster, a totally innovative CTC with an aerodynamic nose cone and tough tarpaulin body with dual zipper system.  In addition we relocated our business from California to South Carolina.  We needed room to grow and found South Carolina offered the services and structure our business needed.

2003 & 2004 were big years.  We introduced 3 new car top carriers and our NEW Car BACK Carrier, the world's first cargo carrier that straps to the back of your car.  We also added a new truck tent to our Camp-Right line up for the Chevy Avalanche.  In addition we launched our new web site www.LakelandGear.com.  It's purpose was to bring a faster, newer, user friendly interface for our customers.

If you have any questions about starting a small business, especially on the Internet, send me an email, and I'll see if I can help you out.

David Schaefer

Lakeland Enterprises LLC