Simply the mention of new business West Coast Wagons made Brad Pitt stop dead in his tracks.
The custom-made trendy wagons for kids, started by Tiffany and Duane Nelson in 2003, just opened in Burbank. But it already has a long list of celebrity clients, such as movie stars Tom Cruise and Cate Blanchett.
While working on a production job at the Golden Globe Awards, Tiffany Nelson stopped Pitt and Angelina Jolie to ask them about their wagon, which was sent to the couple a few months earlier.
“Brad was talking to George Clooney, and as soon as I asked Angelina about our wagon, he stopped and turned to talk to me instead,” Tiffany Nelson said.
“He told me that it was the coolest thing that he had ever seen and that his son, Maddox, loved pulling his sisters around in it.”
Tiffany and Duane Nelson’s daughter, Piper, 6, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, had difficulty sitting upright in a stroller.
They found a wagon at a swap meet in 2003 and decided to upgrade it.
They painted it black and purple, as well as fastened cloth bumpers to prevent Piper from falling out the sides.
“Everywhere we went, we got comments on it from people asking us where they could buy one,” Tiffany Nelson said.
“After you hear that about 400 times, you realize that there is a market for it.”
Tiffany and Duane Nelson started making the wagons out of their home a year later, allowing customers to choose features such as canopies and patterned designs such as planets, flames and skulls.
“It really is the coolest looking transport I’ve seen for children, and it’s great because unlike the small undercarriage of a stroller, you can fit groceries, diaper bags or anything you want in the wagon,” said customer and mother Jamie Barton, who a few years ago purchased a wagon for her son Teagen.
“My son is also like a monkey, so we opted to have a safety buckle put in, which is great because we didn’t have to worry about him jumping out.”
After getting inundated with requests and having little space to work in their home, the Nelsons in May decided to buy the small warehouse in Burbank.
The wagons, on average, cost about $265 but range to as high as $1,400 depending on what is installed, Tiffany Nelson said.
“I think it’s caught on because a lot of people had a little red Radio Flyer as a kid and hang on to it over the years,” she said.
“We’ve had grandparents that have come in who are now using the flyer as a planter and want to fix it up and give it to their grandchildren, so it has almost become a family heirloom.”
