Entrepreneurship is sometimes glamorous, but mostly not. Back in January, 20-year-old David Price got the news he was praying for. Walmart, the nation’s No. 1 retailer, had ordered 15,000 of Price’s inventions, the “Safety Pouch.”
Price’s pouch is a sort of high-visibility wallet used by drivers to present their identification to police officers during traffic stops. Coming onto the market during the Black Lives Matter movement, the bright orange pouches were aimed at demonstrating cooperation and cutting down on dangerous, sometimes deadly, misunderstandings.
When you’re pulled over, “it’s easy to grab it off of the sun visor, snap it on the window and keep your hands in sight,” Price explained in a 2020 interview.
“I don’t necessarily think of it as a solution to police brutality,” he said in a recent interview, “I think of it as an extra aid in compliance.”
David Price's Safety Pouch is both a practicality and a social commentary
Good news, bad news
At first, Price said, the fates seemed to be against him landing the Walmart deal. He was scheduled to pitch the product to the biggest of the big box stores by Zoom on Aug. 30, 2021, which turned out to be the day after Hurricane Ida. In the wake of the storm, there was no power at his New Orleans East home, and no internet service.
Then, he said, “just five minutes before the meeting, I got a hot spot connection.”
The staggering Walmart purchase that resulted from the meeting was a good news, bad news situation. The big company had certainly validated Price’s concept and suddenly made his business much more viable. But Price had to scramble.
He didn’t happen to have 15,000 pouches lying around. So first, he had to contact his manufacturer in China to get more made and shipped pronto. Price said he had enough money — $80,000 — to pay for the product up front. But thanks to the war in Ukraine and other factors, the cost of shipping ballooned from $15,000 to $45,000, and he hadn’t budgeted for the extra.
Inventor David Price prepares to deliver 15,000 Safety Pouches to Walmart (Photo courtesy David Price)
Lucky for Price, family members swiftly pitched in to cover the inflated freight. Family came to his rescue again when the pouches arrived on April 27. The product had to be boxed up and delivered to Walmart by May 1, which wasn’t easy. Price said his parents, siblings and cousins suffered long nights and occasional paper cuts as they folded and assembled the 15,000 cardboard cartons that would contain the pouches on store shelves.
And Price had to do all this during exams at Loyola University where he was then a junior, majoring in political science.
“It’s very easy to get overwhelmed,” he said.
David Price's Safety Pouch is meant to minimize confusion during police traffic stops
A conversation starter
Loyola is where the Safety Pouch project started in the first place. In her Introduction to Entrepreneurship class in the fall of 2019, professor Kate Yoo McCrery challenged students to imagine a product that might somehow bring about societal change. Price’s Safety Pouch was one of the results. Price said he’d been ruminating on the hazards faced by young people, particularly those who are Black, during traffic stops since he was 16, when his parents lectured him on the prudence necessary when communicating with the police.
From the start, Price’s safety pouch wasn’t just a practicality, it was a symbol of the era. In a way, it not only solves a potential problem, it signals that a problem exists. Price said he’s been contacted by a few customers who’ve deployed the pouch during a traffic stop.
“Overall,” he said, “the most common response was that it was a conversation starter. It was an opportunity for both parties (the motorist and police officer) to build a relationship in the moment.”
He said that he’s yet to have a negative review from someone who’s used the device.
From the beginning, Price’s invention has brought him a touch of celebrity. Price was a guest on "The Real," a television talk show, and also on the Kelly Clarkson show, where he was given $2,500 in startup money. Price has compiled video clips of his TV spots and celebrity endorsements on the safety Pouch Facebook page.
Fulfilling inventor David Price's staggering Walmart order was a family affair
Full-scale business
Price said that even before the Walmart bonanza, he’d been “making some progress” with sales via his website and Amazon.com. He estimated he’d already sold something like 24,000 pouches at $20 each. Which is very good. But Walmart’s agreement to stock Price’s pouches in the automotive departments of 400 stores could send sales through the roof.
Price said reaching this business milestone seems “surreal.”
“I never imagined anyone would take me seriously,” he said, “to trust that we could make this little bedroom operation into a full-scale business.”
Despite his success, life hasn’t changed all that much for Price since the project started. He still lives at home and concentrates mostly on finishing school, he said. He hasn’t bought himself a new car or anything like that; he just plows Safety Pouch profit back into the business and bides his time while he tries to dream up new inventions.
Ironically, he said, pouches aren’t yet available at the Walmarts in New Orleans where the project began, though you can get them in Gonzales and New Iberia in Louisiana, and in Gulfport, Mississippi. Price said he drove over to Gulfport to get a look at his product in the store. He said he captured the moment in a TikTok video that’s gotten 2.1 million views. Which would seem to bode well for future sales.
Neither Walmart nor the New Orleans Police Department returned messages seeking comment for this story.
David Price invented the Safety Pouch while a freshman at Loyola University
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