“But as much as I hated it, it was the center of my dorm room and social life by extension. I bought a futon the day I moved in, and it was even less comfortable than expected, difficult to put together and eventually disposable at the end of the year,” said Baron. “It all started in Ehringhaus with the futon I loved to hate. Nugget Comfort co-founders Baron and Cocca met as students at Carolina where they had a shared experience - loathing their dorm furniture. The runaway success of the Nugget in 2020 is unexpected, especially considering the founders’ original inspiration. Nine months into various stages of social distancing, and demand for the Nugget has reached a fever pitch. Living rooms suddenly transformed into both classroom and playground, and parents became desperate for any way keep their children engaged and learning. On third-party websites previously purchased Nuggets are offered for two or even three times their value.ĭemand intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools, daycares and extracurricular activities came to a halt and families began quarantining at home. On the company’s Facebook page, hundreds of parents desperately comment on posts hoping to find someone willing to sell their Nugget or even their place in the Lotto line. Currently, more than 200,000 parents have attempted to purchase a Nugget when the website restocked just for the chance to backorder a Nugget, with a delivery date by June 2021, and thousands have entered the “Nug Lotto” over the past three months for a slim chance of winning a Nugget before Christmas. Parents have purchased the Nugget at a rate that has overwhelmed the small startup. “Children are the most creative people, so our goal was to convince parents that the Nugget would encourage their children’s creativity.” “The Nugget is no different from most building toys on the market,” said Baron. The cushions are zipped into washable microsuede covers that come in a wide variety of colors that appeal to children and parents alike, such as Redwood (a warm, earthy brick) or Atlantis (peacock teal). What children’s toy could be so special that 200,000 parents are willing to wait hours to enter an online lottery or pay an outrageous markup price to third parties? Apparently, a play couch that was inspired by the company founders’ aversion to the cheap futons in their Carolina dorm rooms.Ĭo-founded by Carolina alumni David Baron ’12, Ryan Cocca ’13 and Hannah Fussell ’14 and headquartered in Butner, North Carolina, Nugget Comfort manufactures play furniture out of foam cushions that allow children to use their imagination and configure the cushions into couches, beds, chairs, slides or even forts - any structure that inspires them.

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