“Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love Christmas,” says John Cronin.

That love of Christmas led this award-winning entrepreneur to a new dream: open a Christmas store. John has a way of making his dreams come true. John and his father, Mark X. Cronin, co-founded John’s Crazy Socks, now they are turning to an Indiegogo campaign to launch a new online store, “John’s Crazy Christmas Store.”

“We want to spread more happiness and create more jobs for people with differing abilities. We want to show what’s possible,” says John Cronin.

Creating John’s Crazy Christmas Store

Mark X. Cronin explains, “We will offer fun holiday products, create more jobs for people with differing abilities and give back.” Just as they do in the original store, five percent of earnings from the Christmas Store will go to the Special Olympics.

The new store will include holiday socks but will move beyond just socks. John’s Crazy Christmas Store will carry the products designed and made by John and his colleagues: 

• Christmas and Holiday Cards designed by people with differing abilities
• Christmas ornaments designed by people with differing abilities
• Christmas and Holiday Socks (or course) designed by people with differing abilities
• Wrapping paper designed by people with differing abilities
• Christmas caps and stockings
• Pajama pants
• And much more

The new online store will create more jobs for people with differing abilities and allow the company to show the world what they can do. Mark said, “We have asked our customers if they would like to see us offer a Christmas store and we received an overwhelming positive response.”

John says, “I’m so excited.”

Turning to Crowdfunding: An Indiegogo Campaign to Fund the Christmas Store

On Wednesday, July 17, John’s Crazy Socks will launch an Indiegogo Campaign to provide the funding to create John’s Crazy Christmas Store. You can reach their project page here: https://igg.me/at/christmas.

The money from the campaign will pay for:

• Producing the new line of Christmas items
• Building out the website
• Modifying the warehouse
• Hiring and training more staff

The Cronins are asking their customers and supporters to back this new venture. Mark says, “To make this expansion a reality will cost money, money we do not have. We have bootstrapped our business and while we have had good early success, we have funneled our money back into our current store. Expanding the business and creating more jobs requires new capital. We have looked to banks and investors, but they either turn us down (we’re too new), want to charge us too much or want to take control of the business. We want to stay true to our mission of spreading happiness. We think our customers and supporters will agree.”

Indiegogo allows backers to support a project. In return, backers receive rewards or “perks” as Indiegogo calls them. “We have great gifts for our backers,” says John. We want our customers to know how much we appreciate them.” 

The Indiegogo Perks: Great Deals, Great Fun all with John’s Flavor

The rewards for the backers of the Indiegogo Campaign spread happiness and show a deep appreciation for their support. The rewards include:

• A set of three Christmas socks made exclusively for Indiegogo backers
• A box of 20 Christmas cards designed by people with differing abilities. 
• A John's Crazy Socks Christmas hat
• Have your name added to the Big Book of Gratitude
• Have John make a personalized video for you
• Receive a Certificate that You are a Holiday Champion or a Holiday Legend. 
• Receive a tour of the warehouse with John for you and your friends and then eat lunch with John
• Design socks with John. You get 100 pairs and we will sell them in our store with 10 percent of the sales going to the charity you choose that supports people with differing abilities.
• Design socks and then having John hand-deliver them to you and bring lunch or speak in front of an audience of your choosing: your company, your school, your non-profit fundraiser, etc.  

About John’s Crazy Socks

John’s Crazy Socks is a father-son venture inspired by John Lee Cronin, a young man with Down syndrome, and his love of colorful and fun socks—what he calls his “crazy socks.” We're on a mission to spread happiness.  The company is built on four pillars: 

• Inspiration and Hope: We hire people with differing abilities, share videos to show what people can do, host school tours and school groups that come for work experience. We want the world to see what people with differing abilities can do.
• Giving Back: We donate 5 percent of our earnings to the Special Olympics and raise money through our Sock of the Month Club and charity and awareness socks for our charity partners like Autism Speaks, the Autism Society of America, the National Down Syndrome Society, and the Williams Syndrome Association. We have raised more than $300,000 for our charity partners and publish a monthly Giving Back Report.
• Socks You Can Love: We have the largest possible selection of socks plus a Sock of the Month Club, gift boxes and gift bags. And our selection is matched by our customer service: Most customers receive their socks within two days of ordering.
• Making It Personal: Every package gets a thank-you note from John and some candy.

For more information, visit our webpage, Facebook page, Instagram account or YouTube channel. You can also contact us at 631-760-5625 or via email at service@johnscrazysocks.com.