Bogged down by all the necessities in their purses, moms toting water bottles and snacks galore are creating a Bogg Bag boom as they scramble for the coveted tote.
The behemoth plastic tote has gone viral online for holding everything a parent might need for a beach day or after-school pick-up.
On TikTok, where the $90 bag has earned a cult following, moms share their Bogg Bag restock routines — emptying, cleaning and refilling their totes with the essentials — and fawn over the sheer volume of the sturdy bag.
“I absolutely love it,” exclaimed a creator named Krystine in an online video showing off her bright green tote and explaining she uses it “all the time.”
“POV you gave into the Bogg Bag craze and you love it,” another mom wrote on TikTok.
Not only is it made from easy-clean EVA, a rubber-like plastic material, but the exterior can also be adorned with personalized buttons reminiscent of Croc Jibbitz.
The popularity among suburban moms and women working in medical or educational professions has skyrocketed sales from approximately $3.6 million in sales back in 2019 to a projected $100 million for this year, the company told Bloomberg.
It’s ironic, then, that when founder Kim Vaccarella created the Bogg Bag back in 2009, the prototype was criticized.
“I was getting all these comments, like, ‘It’s too utilitarian for a woman,’” she told Bloomberg. “But it should be utilitarian.”
She felt that there was a void in the market for moms like her who needed a bag that would be large enough to hold all the parental and childcare essentials but also would be lightweight, easy to clean and stand upright.
“A beach trip with two little boys can be chaotic, so I was always looking for ways to make our outings more organized,” Vaccarella previously told The Post.
“One of the biggest hurdles when packing for the beach was finding a bag that could handle the chaos, one that was durable, water-resistant and big enough.”
The company started with wholesale orders from local boutiques in New Jersey, and as the bags flew off the shelves, Vaccarella pitched her product to chain retailers.
She even took a financial risk by investing thousands of dollars to order bags in bulk, which she said drained her savings and proved to be a nightmare when the items arrived improperly dyed.
The defective products sat in storage until Hurricane Sandy hit and she donated the bags — which are, coincidentally, resistant to dirt and water — to agencies helping people get back on their feet.
Those same people, Vaccarella said, later became return customers who recommended the bags to their friends and families.
The totes also became particularly popular among “Peloton moms” — a nickname coined by Vaccarella in reference to the scores of suburban women in Facebook groups devoted to the at-home cycling machine — and were noticed by Dillard’s, the first major retailer to sell Bogg Bags.
Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bogg Bag back stock at the store was wiped out due to rampant demand, immediately selling out with each restock.
Now, the Bogg Bag is sold in multiple sizes and dozens of colors — from hot pink to pastel blue — and the company also offers accessories, like water bottle holders, zip pouches, organizers and, of course, the “decorative bits.”
Customers zhuzh up their bags with bows and pearls, others with gems, flowers or their initials, and some proud mamas adorn the tote with icons that remind them of their kids, such as a baseball, football or jersey number.
While some people have joked that the Bogg Bag is just too big — making fun of the tote online in various skits — it will likely remain as a pillar of utilitarian mom fashion if the overwhelming support is any indication.
“I’ve learned so much since our initial launch in 2008, like how rejection is a part of most business owners’ journey,” Vaccarella previously told The Post, calling it “daunting” to launch a business as a mom and entrepreneur.
“Now, at age 54, I can look back and really reflect on everything I’ve learned along the way,” she continued,” and how it’s a story that many women can hopefully relate to, no matter the industry they’re in or the dreams they have.”
