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CoolCabana beach shades have become so popular on Australian beaches this summer that some are now complaining there are too many of them.
But the company’s Queensland chief executive, who quietly started the company nearly 10 years ago, has defended his clever business idea, saying the tents show Australians are finally embracing sun protection and taking skin cancer seriously.
“On a beautiful summer weekend, the most popular beaches are packed with people enjoying the beach, that’s amazing, regardless of whether or not they are under a CoolCabana,” he said. news.com.au.
“It’s one of the best things about Australia, but if we’re serious about melanoma, people need to be able to enjoy the beach while also protecting themselves from UV overexposure and sun damage.”
Architect Mark Fraser came up with the idea for an easy-to-use shade while on holiday with his wife and children in Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in 2014.
He saw that people had a hard time putting up umbrellas and he thought he could design something much better.
His clever hack for one of life’s little annoyances has turned CoolCabanas into a multi-billion dollar global empire.
However, in a bitter twist of irony, some of CoolCabanas’ biggest detractors are from Noosa and locals take to social media to destroy beach shelters.
“Natural beauty is being ruined,” one wrote on a photo of the flooded Noosa beach from CoolCabanas.
“Yeah, smart sun, but it’s looking more and more like a European beach these days,” wrote another.
Many social media users have taken to TikTok in recent weeks asking if they missed the memo about CoolCabanas.
CoolCabana beach shades (pictured) are proving hugely popular this summer across Australia
“We’ve always enjoyed the beach, and like everyone else, we’ve seen blown up beach umbrellas or moms and dads struggling to fold up a stretchy beach shelter while in full view of bathers,” Fraser said. the sunday mail in January 2021.
The basic plan was that it should be windproof, easy to use, and comfortable enough for families to spend all day under.
He sketched out the design options there and then while sitting on the beach and came up with the core idea of a center post and corner arms supported by sandbags.
Fraser, who was born and raised in New Zealand, didn’t immediately see dollar signs with his invention, he was simply trying to help people avoid the dangers of the sun.
He thought better shade design would help reduce sunburn, and potentially skin cancer, in Australia and give people better memories of their trips to the beach.
The budding entrepreneur hired a seamstress in Brisbane to put together his design and test it with his own family during the summer of 2014/15.
CoolCabanas inventor Mark Fraser (pictured) said his success hasn’t changed the way he lives his life.
Thinking about what users would and wouldn’t need in the final product led to additions like pockets for car keys, wallets, and sunglasses.
Within five months of coming up with the idea on a Noosa beach, Fraser was selling the first CoolCabanas to the public.
It was winter in Australia by then, so he looked for overseas sales and it worked.
He launched a crowdfunding campaign through the American company Kickstarter with a very modest goal of raising $4,450.
He soon had more than double that, with 100 backers pledging $11,470.
Mr. Fraser used social media marketing in the US and soon had a successful new product on his hands.
Then it was time to test the local market and CoolCabanas launched in Australia in time for summer 2015-2016.
Over the years, customer feedback has led to a larger size option and a simplified design.
Although it may seem like everything went smoothly from the start, Mr. Fraser said there were tough times at first, but the highly visible presence of his invention helped enormously.
“I’ve spent a fortune on marketing and branding and have set up and sat under a CoolCabana countless times for half an hour and then moved along the beach using this as an opportunity to demonstrate the product and generate interest” .
Online commenters defended the hot item (pictured), praising how easy it is to put it on and put it down.
When he did that, most of the time at least two people asked where they could buy one.
Made in China, CoolCabanas are for sale around the world, with the main markets being the United States, Europe and Australia, and have won prestigious design awards in both Australia and New Zealand.
But the success of the sunglasses has inevitably provoked a backlash, mainly from people who complain that there are too many of them on the beach.
“Legitimately when we were in Noosa we were wondering how much money they made because they were EVERYWHERE,” one person wrote on social media.
“I don’t get it, people don’t take up more space than they normally would, they just have shade,” said a second.
Jodie Thring took to social media with a photo of her $200 blue and white striped cabana after joking that it provided “no shade” (pictured, Ms. Thring’s cabana)
A third commenter said: ‘You have to see Noosa’s main beach. I wouldn’t even know what color the sand is. It’s covered in them.
But Mr. Fraser said that ‘we actually have the most efficient footprint on the beach.
“A square area of shade is much more efficient for a human body to lie down or sit under than the circle of shade provided by an umbrella.”
It commissioned a study comparing umbrellas and CoolCabanas set up socially distanced on a beach at 1.5 meters and 2 meters.
“What this showed is that the CoolCabanas were 20 per cent more efficient and have the benefit that other bathers can see through them,” Mr Fraser said.
“I think they are dumb, better with something with sides,” one person said on social media, while another wrote: “They are so annoying though when the whole beach is full of them, they take up so much space.”
Despite her huge success, she said that the way she lives her life hasn’t changed.
“I’ve always done my thing and money doesn’t move me,” he said.
‘Life is all about memories, plus the demand is such that everything goes back to business anyway.’
Fraser hasn’t rested on its laurels, with new designs that include a new type of rain umbrella, surf products, toddler products, construction products and marine products.
But he is well aware that it all grew out of his original development of CoolCabanas.
‘It’s fantastic. The beachgoers love them, they stay safe and enjoy the summer…all I can say is wow!’ he said.
But there will always be someone complaining.
A woman named Jodie Thring took to social media with a photo of her $200 blue and white striped cabin, saying it provided “no shade.”
One person said ‘I think they are dumb, better with something with sides’.
Another said: “However, it is very annoying when the whole beach is full of them, they take up a lot of space.”