Young Denny entrepreneur stretching his way to success
A young amateur boxer from Denny is stretching his way to success after his quirky business product lit up social media, and has gone on to sell hundreds of items across the UK.
Created by Aaron Napier, aged 13, who attends Denny High School, and assisted by dad Robert Napier, Wee Aaron’s Stretchers is a clothes drying accessory that has been used in the back gardens of grannies for generations.
Made from eight-foot-long treated timber, and costing £8, the washing poles – known as stretchers – have a lifetime guarantee and will be fully repaired or replaced by the father and son should anything happen to them.
Robert, a lorry driver, said of the origins: “We were trying to come up with some business ideas, and then the stretcher idea stuck. Aaron's gran used her’s for years and long before washing lines, every back garden had them.
“One woman who bought a stretcher, had her washing pole since the 1970s, which is older than me, kept it through multiple house moves, and days after it finally broke we popped up on her social media feed.”
After experiencing some initial success last summer, the young entrepreneur and dad Robert, decided to commit to the venture and began stockpiling wood through the winter.
Robert said: “I can’t thank Donna from MGM Timber enough, she got in touch and donated wood for Aaron’s stretchers, and we began storing it right up until March.”
The duo intend to donate a lump sum of stretcher sales to the Scott Martin Foundation, a Falkirk-based mental health support charity that is close to the family’s heart.
While working on a social media page, the duo created an AI photo and it connected with the local audience. Within the last few months, the page has leaped in exposure, to now having 3200 likes, countless positive comments and 100 per cent customer feedback.
The dad said: “It started as something for Aaron to make extra pocket money, and we’ve now sold hundreds, with people from Newcastle, Somerset, Glasgow and way up in Scotland all wanting to buy them.
“Aaron’s put in most of the hard work though, he’s humping the stretchers from the back garden and into the van. I drive and sit in, he delivers them to the door, chats to the customers, building that sense of community.
“I’m always trying to teach him life skills, and with this, I feel that he’s learning and getting the rewards for it as well.”
In addition to the stretcher business, Aaron is a former Scottish amateur boxing champion, trains multiple times a week with Bluevale Boxing Club in Glasgow and will be in Ireland competing for gold this weekend.
However, rather than resting on his success, Aaron is thinking of ways in which to build his brand.
The young entrepreneur said: “The stretchers kind of stop selling after summer with the weather being much worse, so I’ve started working on a few ideas for something that can work during the winter months.”
To check out the stretchers visit the Wee Aaron’s Stretchers Facebook page.