It never failed. As soon as Jill Kaufenberg bought a decent pair of mittens for one of her three kids, one of the mittens would get lost — time and time again.
Her two daughters didn’t mind wearing mismatched mittens, but her son Kye, who was particularly prone to misplacing them, would wear only a matching pair, she said. “There was no negotiating.”
Kaufenberg, 43, of Marine on St. Croix, began researching companies that sold replacement mittens.
“I hate having to buy pairs all the time because it’s so wasteful,” she said. “I scoured the internet figuring there’s got to be a company doing this. Once I realized there wasn’t, I decided to start one. It was really out of desperation.”
Kaufenberg launched Chopper Mill, a Stillwater-based e-commerce children’s mitten business, earlier this year.
The mittens retail for $89. The sale price includes the company’s trademarked re/PAIR replacement plan: The first single Chopper Mill you lose, the company will mail you a replacement for free.
Another plus: parents can always buy a single mitten — for $45 — in case their child loses another without having to buy another pair, Kaufenberg said.