Teens fashion walletsfrom
the simplicity of duct tape.

LISA FEIN
Special to the Jewish News

E

ave you ever thought of a
new idea for a product,
but didn't really pursue
marketing and selling it?
Two local teens, acting on their
impulses, have created and are selling
the items they make from — of all
things — duct tape. Especially popu-
lar are their wallets.
Farmington Hills' Oren Brandvain,
13, and Reuben Maxbauer, 14,
eighth-graders at Hillel Day School of
Metropolitan Detroit, have been life-
long friends. In fact, their mothers are
business partners in the sons' base-
ment business, Slow Gold.
"It is a secret how we make them,"
Oren said, "but they are 100 percent
duct tape."
He added, "We are fine with the
amount of orders we have. We are able
to keep up."
"We always hoped our creativity
would be passed on to another genera-
tion," said Terri Roth, Reuben's moth-
er. "Our sons like working with their
hands. They look at the world
through different eyes. They are very
creative, and I am in favor of them
doing what they are doing." _ , . .
It all started when Oren went to
Young Judaea's Camp Tavor in Three
Rivers three years ago. He started mak-
ing items from duct tape on his own.

The first item the teens made
together was a pair of shorts. Since
their first success, Oren and Reuben
have made gloves, shoes, shirts, pants,
vests, overalls and a backpack.
The only reason given for making
these items for themselves was pure
fun. The wallet production started
about two years ago.
As Oren's mother, Beth Brandvain,
tells it, "For his bar mitzvah last June
at Adat Shalom
Synagogue, Oren decided
to make the wallets to give
as favors. Oren and
Reuben worked for a cou-
ple of months to make
110 wallets."

the Internet.
Graham's wife Susie owns a card
and gift shop, Greetings From... in
West Bloomfield, and decided to sell
the wallets. "We had 30 wallets the
week before Christmas," Susie said,
"and as of the first of the year, they
were all sold out!"
She added, "People are so interested
in these wallets. Everyone comments
on them when they see the display on

the store's counter. It has been fun."
Reuben explained, "Half of our
business comes from the store and half
from individual orders:" He added, "It
takes ,about 10 minutes to make a wal-
let. We use only Anchor or Duck
brands of tape. From a large roll (60
meters), we can make about 20 wal-
lets."

Friendly Ties

The story continues
when a family friend, Bill
Graham of West
Bloomfield, who attend-
ed Oren's bar mitzvah,
gave Reuben a ride home
from the party and the
wallet was left in the car.
When Graham found the
wallet, he wanted one.
With the teen's permis-
sion, he decided to put
the wallet on eBay (an
Internet auction house).
An interested party
from Wisconsin placed an
order for 15 wallets over

Above: Maxbauer
and Brandvain
create belt buckles.

Top: Oren
Brandvain and
Reuben Maxbauer
display s&me of their
products.

In The Spotlight

Both of the teens seem to
be taking their celebrity
status, including several
newspaper articles about
them, in stride. Reuben
continues to play on his
school's basketball team as
the center and Oren enjoys
drawing comic books.
The boys added purs-
es to the product line,
which can be bought at
Greetings From.... They
are considering making
backpacks for the begin-
ning of the next school
year.
"I think it is neat
what the boys are doing,"
said Avi Brandvain, Oren's
father. "It is nice to hear
that two teens are getting
attention over something
positive." ❑

*TN

1/26
2001

91

