Student wins Kids' Stuff category in Walmart contest

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SKRIBS, the customizable wristbands invented by VCU da Vinci Center for Innovation student Tumi Oredein, are one step closer to the grand prize in a national contest sponsored by Walmart.

Walmart announced this morning that Oredein won the Kids' Stuff category in its "Get on the Shelf" competition, a multistage contest in which individuals and businesses submit their products for consideration to Walmart customers. The public can participate in online voting for products. Oredein’s product will now be made available for purchase at walmart.com.

SKRIBS must receive more pre-orders than the other four finalists’ inventions between Oct. 29 and Oct. 31, to be considered for the grand prize of marketing support and to be placed in the chain’s retail stores. SKRIBS can be pre-ordered on Walmart.com or by clicking on the “Walmart Pre-Orders” link posted on skribs.com.

"This changes my life," said Oredein, who is a student in the product innovation master’s program offered through the da Vinci Center. "What this means to me, it is just so amazing. The opportunity for Walmart to actually have my product on their shelf, it just means so much."

As a finalist for the grand prize, Oredein will compete against winners in four other product categories: Live Better, Around the House, Great Gadgets and Made in America. The grand champion will have their product sold on walmart.com and possibly in the store itself, depending on online pre-orders from customers, and also may receive marketing support from Walmart. More than 1,000 inventors, entrepreneurs and businesses entered the contest.

For a video profile of Oredein made for the contest, visit https://getontheshelf.walmart.com/product/19be/SKRIBS-Customizable-Wris. Read a VCU News story about Oredein and his entrepreneurial pursuits at http://news.vcu.edu/article/Students_new_product_a_finalist_in_Walmart_competition.

The da Vinci Center is a collaboration of the schools of arts, business and engineering and the College of Humanities and Sciences.


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