About FoldingWagon

The concept of the FoldingWagon was first conceived in 1997 by Tamara Galt.  Tami and her husband Tom had been shopping at the farmers' market and had bought more than they could carry.  The next week, Tami tried to bring a conventional wagon to carry all of their farmers' market finds, but the conventional wagon would not fit in the car.  Tami saw some people using folding wire carts, but all of the produce on the bottom would get squashed and the carts were awkward and unattractive.  After spending countless hours searching online and in catalogs for something that would fit her needs better, she concluded that no such product existed.  Later, for a camping trip to a walk-in site, Tom had to disassemble their conventional wagon to get it into their car and reassemble it to use at the campground--not a very convenient solution.  After the couple's first child was born, the amount of stuff they had to bring everywhere increased considerably.  This further convinced Tami that there was a great need for a wagon which could easily fit in a car for transport.  The new wagon should have the strength and utility of a conventional wagon, but with the ease of folding and transport of a folding chair-in-a-bag.  It should also come completely assembled, since people are busy enough without having to waste an hour putting together an erector-set-like conventional wagon.

In 1999, Tami convinced Tom to work with her to develop a design and produce prototypes.  After many months of work and countless prototypes, the basic mechanism for the FoldingWagon was a reality.  The FoldingWagon achieved all of the design goals they had set.  It was very easy to fold and unfold and required no assembly.  Tami and Tom filed for patent protection for the concept.  In 2000, the Galts' FoldingWagon became one of thousands of prototypes presented to a startup toy company which was conducting a national search for new product ideas.  Tami and Tom were delighted when the small toy company asked to license the concept for the right to produce and distribute a FoldingWagon product.  Unfortunately, in 2002 the underfunded toy company went out of business before selling even a single wagon.  Later in 2002, the couple entered the "Not so Crazy Idea" contest organized by the "The Early Show" on CBS and the United Inventors Association.  From over one thousand products evaluated, the FoldingWagon was chosen as one of five products to be featured on "The Early Show."  Tami and Tom flew to New York and appeared with Host Bryant Gumbel on 2/15/02.  In December 2002, the patent was granted.  The couple worked with other companies on the FoldingWagon concept, but none of these efforts resulted in the product going into the marketplace.

In October of 2005, Tami and Tom were contacted by a representative of TriGen Group, LLC.  Tami and Tom were impressed by TriGen Group's emphasis on product quality.  In July 2006 a licensing agreement between FoldingWagon LLC and TriGen Group, LLC, was finalized.  With this agreement, TriGen Group, LLC, became the exclusive manufacturer and distributor of products based upon the FoldingWagon concept.  Beginning in mid 2007, the Fold-it & Go Portable Wagon became available for purchase.  Numerous retailers now offer the Fold-it & Go Portable Wagon and several large chain retailers have expressed interest.  The future looks very bright for the Fold-it & Go Portable Wagon.