CoatChex is a software that offers facial recognition for people who want to recover their coats from the coat hanging service at clubs. The technology reduces the need for paper tickets, ensures that the correct coat is returned, and saves the customer time. It’s a good option for clubs/bars that don’t yet offer coat checking services.
Dereck Pacque came up with the idea and founded CoatChex after graduating from Business school. Pacque had always found it tiring to hang his coat at bars and restaurants, so he decided to devise a convenient and efficient way to turn his coat and get it back later. He felt that the conventional ticketing system was inefficient, leading to misplaced tickets and stolen coats.
Before becoming CoatChex, Dereck initially formed a side business called the ‘Hoosier Coat Check LLC’ system, which was originally a ticketed system. This was in response to having an expensive coat stolen at a restaurant. He first formed the larger company, ‘Chexology, before starting CoatChex as a business subsidiary. It’s an efficient system for venues that avoid coat checking services due to the hassle they cause.
The software comes with an app that charges the customer’s credit card, also providing additional revenue to the restaurant/bar. It allows customers to store a picture of themselves in the app, preventing coat theft.
Are They Still an Active Company?
Yes, the company is active and still in business.
How Did the Shark Tank Pitch Go?
Dereck Pacque came to Shark Tank to pitch his advanced coat checking software. His initial ask was for $200,000 for a 10% stake in the company. He started his pitch by sharing that his idea was to sell franchises to “region developers,” who would sell to end customers, similar to the famous master franchise model.
Mark Cuban, an alumnus of the same college that Pacque had graduated from, disliked the idea at first glance, calling it ‘horrible.’ Kevin was the second to disagree with the concept because he felt coats were only worn seasonally. However, he added that as a Canadian, he wore many coats whenever he went out. The seasonal aspect put off Kevin, who stepped out.
This was followed by Daymond stepping out because he knew there were already many other rivals in the field, and he didn’t think Dereck understood the market very well. Barbara’s main reason for stepping out was that she felt the process of using the app was too time-consuming. Robert Herjavec didn’t like the initial asking, feeling it was too much to ask for. However, Dereck was adamant on the initial ask, claiming he was willing to even haggle over it.
Mark supported Robert then by insisting that Dereck lower the initial valuation for the sake of the product. This convinced Dereck to reduce it to $1.5 million, but Robert still felt it was too much, so he stepped out. At this stage, Mark was the only one still interested in CoatChex, but he thought Pacque should still be realistic with the valuation. Mark offered $200,000 for a 33% stake in the company.
Dereck asked Mark to wait while he consulted with his business partner. Dereck’s partner didn’t think Mark’s offer was good enough since it was too big of a stake in the company to give up at this stage. Dereck returned to the Sharks then and rejected Mark’s offer, claiming that he felt he needed more time to develop his business before getting an investment.
Overall, the CoatChex Shark Tank review was positive. However, they voluntarily chose to leave without a deal.
Our Review of CoatChex
We decided to try CoatChex to see how it would fare in practice.
The good news is that the system efficiently recognizes faces and collects runs smoothly. Chexology has also expanded to being used for luggage checks. The software is an excellent alternative to conventional ticketing systems.
The bad news is that it’s a hassle to download the app and store data when in a hurry, plus the service is quite expensive if you’re using it only for your coat checking purposes.
Pros of CoatChex
- Smooth software
- Efficient
- Expanded to other checking services
Cons of CoatChex
- Hassle to download the app
- Expensive for a single service
Who is CoatChex for?
CoatChex is mainly for adults who need a place to keep their coats safely at a restaurant or a bar. It’s a good option for people who are always in a hurry like office workers and students.
Are There Any Alternatives?
CoatChex is a unique product so there aren’t really any alternatives to it.
Paper tickets were originally used to help people find their coats in a coat checking system at venues. Winco Coat Checks is still a popular option for small-scale bars and restaurants that want an affordable coat checking system in place. Winco Coat Checks come in a set of 500 bright-colored tickets that can easily be torn in three parts.
The price point means they’re affordable for the venue and customers who want their coats kept safely. The bright-colored tickets will be hard to misplace since they’ll be easily spotted plus the rips on the ticket will let service providers know whether the customer has already claimed their coat or not. The product has many positive reviews on Amazon, showing that the manual ticketing system for coat checking services is still popular.
Our Final Thoughts
CoatChex is a unique software that could easily generate a lot of revenue for bars and restaurants. It’s also pretty helpful to use in the winter for people who carry their coats around and don’t want them to get stolen. Given the price of winter coats these days, particularly branded ones, CoatChex ensures that coats don’t get accidentally taken by anyone other than their owners.
It’s also far more convenient and efficient than conventional ticketing systems because venues won’t have to face angry customers if the latter misplace their tickets.
