OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — A local startup is looking to change the narrative of safety, style and convenience by clearing a path for bags that clear security at public events.
With the College World Series just around the corner, Abby Gross is looking to change the game.
“You know, making the whole event process more enjoyable, more fashionable and more sustainable,” Gross said.
Not the actual game of baseball but the safety and convenience of public events everywhere.
"I'd have to say it's been over ten years in the making if not more at this point," Gross said.
"We have the privilege of working with great founders like her who understand her market, understand the need for disruption and really attack it in a really novel way,” says Erica Wassinger, Co-founder of the Startup Collaborative.
With the help of the Startup Collaborative at the Omaha Chamber, Gross has recently launched a chic startup company called Chant.
“Chant is a company that wants to make your event-going experience the best it can possibly be,” she said.
Because she was running into a problem many women might have experienced themselves.
"Getting into the security line was just an added stress knowing that they were either gonna get their bags searched or wondering if their bags were regulation size and it just added this whole stress to an otherwise exciting event."
The rules are pretty clear when it comes to purses and outside bags at sporting events, music festivals and concerts. It’s usually a no-go.
"I still see when I go to concerts, when I go to games, there's a stack of handbags just waiting outside next to the trashcan that people had to ditch because they forgot about the policy."
So she created an environmentally friendly solution.
“I started to think what if we could use all those plastics that are being disposed of or just going to the landfill, how can we create that into something that's actually needed for game day."
With some calling the fashion industry one of the most environmentally harmful industries in the world, Chant bags use TPU vinyl instead of the PBC vinyl, also known as the poison plastic that most other bag companies use.
"It's safer for a human's health and it's much more high quality,” Gross says.
Right in time for a pretty big sporting event, right here in Omaha.
"All of my clear bags are regulation sized for the college world series."
