PEABODY — ZIPIT, a company that sells colorful and clever bags, backpacks, and pencil boxes made out of zippers, has donated more than 10,000 products to the National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources (NAEIR).
NAEIR, in turn, will make those donated items available to civic organizations, churches, schools and other nonprofits without charge, helping them stretch their budgets and serve people of all ages.
“We knew we were going to donate products this year, and because we had an unusually high number of items, we wanted to donate to an organization that could handle the large amount of units,” said Joseph Montana II, director of North American sales at ZIPIT. “We try to select organizations that are focused on school age children, teachers, and schools.”
ZIPIT’s U.S.A. Operations Manager Kim Trippett said the partnership with NAEIR is its largest to date.
“We were looking for the right fit and the opportunity came at just the right time,” Trippett said. “It can be difficult to distribute sizable donations, so NAEIR, with it being such a big company, helps us solve those problems and make sure we are getting donations to these nonprofits.”
Trippett, who lives in Lynn, said the company has had a significant presence in Peabody schools of late, donating backpacks and other school supply products to several school-based programs.
“I have so many friends who are teachers in Peabody so we have a great connection to the school system,” Trippett said. “When we moved to Peabody in 2019, we were still able to support the teachers with back-to-school items, but we had no idea of the size of the district and the many needs there are here. Having a showroom in Peabody makes it easy to donate locally, which we are always happy to do.”
The company got its start in 2004, when an industrial design student challenged himself to transform a two-dimensional object into a three-dimensional one. After a lot of trial and error, he hit upon the idea of a 3D pouch made up of one long 2D zipper.
Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, the company has a warehouse in Joplin, Mo. Its Peabody facility is the only sales office in the United States.
The product became available in the U.S. in 2009. Since then, ZIPIT products have received wide recognition, including a 2022 Creative Child Award. Its three largest customers are Staples, Walmart, and Target.
Trippett said the most popular item is still the one-long-zipper pencil pouch. The company recently expanded to include a line of recycled plastic boxes.
Montana ZIPIT is the perfect partner for NAEIR, which counts many schools and teachers among its members. ZIPIT joins a long list of NAEIR donors, including such well-known brands as Sharpie, 3M, and Crayola.
NAEIR accepts companies’ in-kind donations – usually excess, out-of-season or discontinued inventory.
Qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofits can then order what they need from NAEIR’s online catalog. They don’t pay for the merchandise itself, they pay only a nominal handling and shipping fee.
ZIPIT’s donation included a wide assortment of its signature one-long-zipper products, prepackaged items that were left in inventory after they redesigned the product. Also included were some zippered backpacks, pouches, and purses.
“NAEIR came to us at the perfect time,” Montana said.
“We were delighted to receive this donation from ZIPIT,” said Gary Smith, president and CEO of NAEIR. “They are colorful and fun, and I’m sure schools will be excited to offer these supplies to students who need them.”
ZIPIT heard about NAEIR from its warehouse, Customer First Service, which had received an information packet from NAEIR.
“After reading about NAEIR’s purpose, we knew our products would be a perfect fit,” Montana said. “We are happy that NAEIR monitors the product and keeps the integrity of our brand, and at the same time helps others.”
Children are usually surprised to see that ZIPIT pouches completely unzip to become one long zipper, Montana said. “This is ZIPIT’s desire when creating our items, as it sparks their imagination, which will inspire their creativity.”
Trippett said she is continually amazed at the fun things students do with their ZIPITs.
“Some schools have ZIPIT parties at the end of the year,” she said. “One school in California celebrates the last day of school by unzipping their ZIPITs and waving them around in the air. They have so much fun.”
Founded in 1977, NAEIR gives away $100 million a year to schools, churches, and other nonprofits. Since its founding, NAEIR has received donations from more than 8,000 U.S. corporations and distributed more than $3 billion in products.
