STARKVILLE — Glo, a Starkville-based light-up cube and toy company, has been ranked 3,563 in the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies in the nation.
CEO Hagan Walker told The Dispatch the company received the award earlier this week and is glad to be recognized.
“Making the list constitutes I think it’s the top 0.5% of the fastest-growing private companies in America,” Walker said. “For us as a small company in Starkville, Mississippi, that started out of a classroom project, that’s pretty cool to be in that top percent.”
The Inc. 5000 is a running list of the top 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the country, and rankings are awarded based on sales growth over three years.
Glo started in 2015 as a light-up drink cube company. It entered the toy space in 2018 and features Sesame Street characters, as well as some original creations, among their products.
Walker said he believes the company made the list thanks to a few key components of Glo’s business model. Those include the revamping of its signature Glo pals, which are light-up figure toys, diversifying where Glo sells its products internationally and even increasing its larger retail customers domestically.
In 2022, Glo expanded to distribute to retailers in Canada. Now, the company has distribution to stores around the globe, including Iceland, Poland, Romania and Australia, to name a few.
“We are being more prevalent as an omnichannel company, meaning that you’re not just relying on one sales channel. You have a multitude of sales channels that you’re focused on so that when things like a pandemic hit, there’s enough diversification through your sales channels to kind of keep things going,” Walker said. “For us, we’ve really made a lot of strides with that.”
The company has also increased its sales by gaining large retail customers inside the United States, such as Macy’s, Kohl’s and Nordstrom to reach more customers. However, Walker said the company still does a large amount of business with smaller mom-and-pop stores nationwide.
“When we started out, that really was our bread and butter,” Walker said. “It’s slowly transitioning, but we still have a very soft spot for what we call our specialty retailers, those mom-and-pop stores across the U.S. that really kind of gave us a chance to start.”
Chief Creative Officer Anna Barker said that local customers and having a solid team have played a pivotal role in the company’s success.
“We have been so fortunate to have the support of our local community, as well as our consumers,” Barker said. “But most importantly, we have an amazing team who has helped propel our business and get us to this milestone in our company history.”
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