Naperville Sun, March 13th, 2009:
DeAnna Cooper says Play It Again sports in Naperville was the first
place about a month ago to donate baseballs for her new line of
purses.
Yes, purses. She says she uses them to stregthen her company's
new Homerun Totes.
"I put them on the Homerun Toes on the bottom and sides of the
bags," she said. "It adds durability."
For Cooper, the busted baseballs from Play It Again Sports were much
more than trash; they're literally her livelhood. And her new
company recycles more than that for its product lines.
Last November, 42-year-old Cooper, along with her sister-in-law Kathy
Cooper and lifelong friend Jamie Anjus, founded Coopersong[0], an
Internet-based business that produces lunch bags, hip purses and tote
bags from recycled products. The bags and purses are handmade, one at
a time, by the three stay-at-home moms, who manage to coordinate all
of their work despite living across the country from each other.
"Kathy lives in Colorado, and Jamie lives in Los Angeles, and
my husband and I relocated here to Wheaton," Cooper said.
"In putting this together, we've spent a lot of time on
the phone and also videoconferencing with (Internet phone service)
Skype."
The bags are made using two rather unusual components: broken-down
bicycle inner tubes and good old cowhide-covered baseballs that are
no longer being whacked in the batting cage. Cooper said local bike
shops as well as schools, park districts and local baseball groups
are all helping supply the recycled materials.
"Glen Ellyn Cycling has been wonderful about keeping the old
inner tubes from flats they've repaired, and once a week,
I'll drop by and pick up what they have," Cooper said.
"I go home, wash the tubes and then cut them into strips. We
use them as handles for the lunch and tote bags."
The baseball covers are removed and used as supporting material sewn
on the bottom of the tote bags and also as pockets for storage along
the side.
To date, the three partners have made almost 400 bags - a
process which Cooper said could take as little as one hour or as much
as an entire day.
Cooper said the company was formed to give her partners and herself
the ability to still be moms and continue going to sports team
practices and be there for their children when they get home from
school.
Cooper has also added her two retail outlets that will allow her to
market her bags beyond the Web site. Jan Rooney, co-owner of Anew, a
woman's boutique shop in Geneva that takes in items on
consignment, recently met Cooper and fell in love with her various
bags.
"She (Cooper) came into the store and from the minute I saw
her merchandise, I liked everything about it," Rooney said.
"It's going to be an absolute hit here In Geneva. We
sort of recycle things ourselves, given that we take in items and
sell them, and we're also trying to be as
'green' as possible. I'm so excited to carry
these products."
Glen Ellyn's Alikats also is selling the purses.
And Cooper said the purses also will appear in an upcoming issue of
Midwest Living Magazine."
"We're really excited about that," she said.