Whatever Happened To The Coop After Shark Tank?

Possibly one of the best ideas to ever grace the hallowed halls of "Shark Tank" was The Coop. Co-conceived by Juliet Boydstun and Lucinda Lent, The Coop was pitched as a play space designed for upwardly-mobile folks looking for a safe place for their kids to play. When the episode aired in 2012, they had one location that was open during weekdays for kids to run wild in, offering slides, tunnels, ball pits, and bounce houses, as well as places for kids to dance, play video games, and do smaller, quieter projects like paint. The kids were supervised within these rooms, and the adults had an entire area of their own to relax in, complete with espresso and treats. The Coop's other moneymaking venture came from hosting and planning parties, which cost parents anywhere from $695 to $2,795 per event. Think of an upmarket version of Discovery Zone.

During their "Shark Tank" appearance, Boydstun and Lent approached the sharks asking for $150,000 in trade for a 15% ownership stake in the business. They hoped to take their investor's money and turn the business into a franchise. To show off what they could do, they created a shark-themed birthday party, complete with custom cupcakes, banners, and treat packages, to celebrate Mark Cuban's then-upcoming birthday. They informed the sharks that the business was financially solvent, as they had made $100,000 in profits on sales worth $350,000. However, the majority of the sharks decided that it was far too early for the women to think of franchising the company out and pulled away. Everyone, that is, apart from veteran shark Barbara Corcoran, who agreed to their request for funding.

Did Corcoran make a wise investment? Here's how The Coop is doing now.

Though the co-creators of The Coop benefitted from the "Shark Tank" effect, with their business experiencing a boom following their appearance on the show, it looks like the company's dead and buried. Juliet Boydstun and Lucinda Lent expanded their business after their time in the tank, and they did indeed end up franchising The Coop out, with six total outposts in California and one in Austin, Texas. They were still advertising for franchisees in 2016. It got plenty of positive press, turning up in places like Goop and Us Weekly due to its popularity with celeb parents.

When COVID-19 hit, The Coop hit back by selling at-home party packages and promoting virtual activities and parties. This was apparently enough to get them over that initial financial hump that made any indoor activities or meetings impossible, especially for vulnerable children. They had already offered at-home decorations and goodie bags, but with Barbara Corcoran's help they invented the Coop Crate, a more expansive version of those product groups.

While they managed to survive the pandemic, some time in late 2024 The Coop's website went dead. Yelp users report that their locations have closed. The company's Instagram stopped updating in summer 2024, as did its Facebook. It was a surprising and sudden downfall for The Coop after years of bringing joy to families and making good money in the process: As of August 2022, the company's annual revenue was reportedly $3.4 million. But when the party's over, it's over.