I was in my local mall this past weekend and my wife dragged me to a store called Yogibo. I rolled my eyes and walked in. It was filled with giant beanbag chairs, pillows, and other things to lounge on. "This has all got to be made in China", I thought. And sure enough, as I walked around the store, I saw that all their little boxes of accessories and gadgets were made in China. I turned around and started to make a bee-line for the door.
But one of the young sales associated stopped me and said, "I can make a chair for you". I figured, what the heck.
She took a giant, firm beanbag that looked like a 6 foot high column and started whacking it with the side of her hand. Then she said, "have a seat". I sat it in and it was one of those life-changing moments. The beanbag gently comformed itself to my bottom and my sides--not in a smothering way, but in a way that felt more like a gentle hug. I leaned back and as if by magic, the back of the beanbag turned into a solid back with support, while my legs comfortably rested on the floor (coincidentally, I've recently been suffering from edema thanks to my $1000 Herman Miller Aeron chair cutting off the circulation under my thighs--but with Yogibo thing none of my pressure points were cut off).
The beanbag cost $300, but this was a clear instance of "you get what you pay for". The engineering on this thing was brilliant in its simplicity. The way the chair worked reminded me of non-newtonian liquid--it flows like water when it's loose, it becomes solid as a rock when you put pressure on it.
I felt awful at paying for such an expensive product and have money go to China when the salesperson told me, no, they're all assembled in New Hampshire, where the company was founded. I haven't been able to see where the inner beanbag is made (this article says China, but I do see the outer shell is made in Vietnam. I also see that they were acquired by a company in Japan, so hopefully the new company will continue to move out of China.
https://fave.co/3u9rQP8