DES MOINES, Wash. — EDITOR'S NOTE: This segment originally aired in January 2020.
Don't ever tell Katie Neuner and Marin Bundy that scrunchies are 'back'.
"Every year there's an article, it's like ‘Scrunchies are Back!’ and we're like, no, they've been back. They're never not back."
These two make custom scrunchies at Marin's mom's house in Des Moines, just south of Seattle. They sell them on Etsy and Instagram and their colorful creations are addictive.
They call themselves Bunchascrunch and business is, well, scrunchie. They’ve made and sold 10 thousand of the colorful fabric hairbands since they started about a year ago. Why scrunchies?
"I first started dabbling in the scrunchie arena because I can never find scrunchies for my hair,” said Katie. “They would never stretch far enough - I'm working with a lot of hair."
They make satin scrunchies.
Velvet scrunchies.
Husky Scrunchies and Cougar scrunchies.
Scrap scrunchies.
If it's a fabric, this team can scrunchie it.
"For Spongebob, we had to get the whole bolt,” said Marin as she held up a bolt of the bright yellow fabric they use to make their popular Spongebob scrunchies. She adds they also had a bolt of Rugrats fabric – those scrunchies sold out. It also tells you a bit about who loves these scrunchies - Generation Z is a big customer base.
Each one is made by hand - with extra fabric - extra elastic - and extra love.
“These are our babies!” said Katie.
Marin added: "Sometimes we'll finish a scrunchie and I'll hear 'Time of Birth - 7:35 am - It's a girl!’"
This is truly Next Level Scrunchie: these two wear giant scrunchies around their waists, medium-sized ones adorn their ankles, and scrunchie earrings dangle from their ears.
“You’d have thought we'd stop here at big scrunchies but no. We're never going to stop. Scrunchie purses, scrunchie furniture, scrunchie clocks, I don't care. Everything scrunchie!” Marin declared.
Scrunchies have given Marin and Katie more than a side job – making and modeling them together has given these two entrepreneurs a bond that's tighter than, well, you know.
“Such a simple thing that goes in someone’s hair can actually change someone’s life,” said Katie. “Like recently we had a customer reach out to us, she had gone through chemo and it was the first thing she ordered after her hair grew back.” They sent the customer who had made it through chemo some free scrunchies. “It was a really touching moment that we weren't expecting to have,” said Katie.
“We just don't know how far the scrunchie can stretch!”
Find Bunchascrunch on Etsy, Instagram, and in the following stores: Bon Voyage Vintage in Pioneer Square, Peridot Boutiqe on Queen Anne, Oriental Mart in Pike Place Market and ABC Grocery in Des Moines.
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