Built Different. // Banks & Duck

Cody Ulven of Sioux Falls has always been intrigued by the business side of everything, fixated on why things are the way they are.

One topic that kept him up at night was Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate (EVA) slides. Every retail store he entered, he says he automatically noticed the popular slip-on sandals taking over shelf space.

“From higher end retail stores, to Walmart, Costco, and Target—everyone seemed to have their own version of EVA slides, and they all looked very similar,” said Ulven. “Plus, everyone was wearing them.”

EVA slides are known for their casual, waterproof design, but the entrepreneur wanted to know more. Ulven says he became obsessed with how they were made and what the difference was between off-brand and name brands.

Cosmetically there was very little difference, and the material felt the same. Ulven says he didn’t understand why consumers were willing to shell out cash for certain brands, but others grabbed the cheap Joe Schmo version.

“I understand how a brand can influence price, however, my simple brain couldn’t understand a five-six times price increase for two products that looked and felt so similar,” he explained. “I thought there had to be some sort of internal component (other than brand) I wasn’t seeing.” Ulven cut open both pairs with a box cutter to see if there was some sort of unseen structural component to justify that kind of a price difference. There wasn’t.

“The price premium was simply related to the brand,” he recalled. “I was shocked.”

He wondered why all of the products were molded to look like they had a separate upper, midsole, and sole, and why they weren’t built where there was actual separation between them. Ulven started calling around to different manufacturers to ask if that idea and concept was possible.

The answer in the United States was “no.”

“There are only two EVA footwear manufacturers in the U.S.—one in Georgia and one in Idaho,” he said. “After they both told me it wasn’t possible, I started looking overseas.”

Overseas manufacturers also told him it wasn’t possible. Ulven says hearing “no” over and over again only made him feel more invigorated to find a solution. After more research, he reached out to engineer Ryan Schuette of Definitive 3D & Engineering to describe his thought process and to see how credible his concept was, if credible at all.

With Computer Aided Design (CAD) software, Schuette was able to provide Ulven with specific manufacturing specifications and CAD files for the three-part design.

“All of the companies I had spoken to thus far only used one way to manufacture EVA, and now all I needed to find was a footwear manufacturer who could execute this new version,” said Ulven. “After many more calls, I found one in China.”

When his current manufacturer told him his engineered design was manufacturable, Ulven says he knew it was only a matter of time before he would figure out how to make everything else happen.

Step one: protect his idea. The new business owner contacted Kaufhold & Dix Patent Law and filed a 20-year utility patent on the three-piece construction.

Step two: hone in on details of the design, which were comfort and color.

“The construction of the product is undoubtedly unique, however, it’s what the construction offers that makes our products stand out in the footwear space,” described Ulven. “Not only does it allow for color blocking (three separate colors between the upper, midsole, and sole in all EVA), but it also allows for us to use different densities between the parts.”

This includes having a softer midsole (which increases comfort) and a denser outsole (which handles the ground). On the underside of the midsole placed above the heel is an increased amount of softer EVA that Ulven says is extended down through the sandal and sits flush with the sole called the Comfort Dome, which is another part of the patent.

The three-piece process allowed for a variety of colors on each layer of the slides. Ulven says he spent endless hours choosing each custom color without existing pantones.

“I wasn’t aware of how much goes into color selection,” said Ulven. “Everything must be right— the temperature, the hue, the saturation, the gradient, the color relationships … not to mention what colors are the most marketable based upon seasonality.”

Step three: branding, branding, branding. The slogan—Built Different—stemmed from the literal unique design process and from the ideal consumer. Each sandal was created with the vision that they would be part of each customer’s individuality.

“To me, people who are built differently are those who acknowledge what makes them unique, work toward accepting their uniqueness, evolve into the person they are meant to be, and they embrace that journey,” said Ulven. “That’s built different.”

The name—Banks & Duck—was a little more personal. When looking at other successful brands, Ulven says it all kept coming back to authenticity. What was authentic to him were the slang terms “buck” and “dank,” which he used a lot growing up.

“My friends and I still use those words to this day, and my kids even use them. Dank is always good, and buck explains a level of intensity,” said Ulven. “Long story short, I switched the ‘d’ from dank and the ‘b’ from buck around, and that’s where Banks & Duck was born.”

“Banks & Duck products should be worn whenever/ wherever people want to be dank and get buck.”
CODY ULVEN

The founder acquired private investors and secured a distribution deal with Scheels, which will premiere his first collection the DayONE slides in late summer or early fall.

Products will also be available online at his website, which will launch soon.

“It’s difficult to put into words what launch day will feel like,” he said. “However, when I step back and look at the full picture, I took an idea for a product and designed it, engineered it, patented it, raised private equity for it, built a brand around it, established international manufacturing, and sold it to a national retail chain. That’s buck.”

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