Kristi Thomas smiled as she examined her company's retail display at West Point Market.

Lunchology LLC, an Akron company that sells children's lunch bags printed with fun facts, trivia and motivational sayings, sold its first product at the specialty food store less than two years ago.

But Thomas' inspiration came a mile to the west, at Our Lady of the Elms Elementary School, where her daughter Madison went to school.

Four years ago, Madison was a homesick first-grader at the Elms. To ease her daughter into school life, Thomas wrote inspirational messages and drawings on Madison's paper lunch bags.

Soon, Madison's classmates wanted them, too. They used the bags as trading cards. The bags became such a hot commodity that the private-school girls fished them out of the garbage.

``I knew they liked them, but I didn't think they'd go into the trash can to get them,'' said Madison, now in fifth grade at Old Trail School.

Once Kristi and her husband, Chris Thomas, heard this, they did some research. It confirmed what they suspected -- the Thomas’ had found a niche market with great potential.

``Everything was telling us we had something huge,'' Kristi said.

But printing mass amounts of paper bags is costly.

No matter. The Thomas’ dug into their savings account for $150,000, money they planned to use to build a house. Instead, the money paid for printers, computer servers, a patent and attorney fees.

``We had saved for a very long time to build a home,'' Kristi said. ``It was a big sacrifice.''

She then approached Russ Vernon, owner of West Point Market, about selling them in his store. Vernon loved the product and provided ``prime real estate'' in his store for the Lunchology display, Thomas said.

To kick off sales in March 2004, Thomas stood in front of the display and gave out samples. While doing so, she met a store owner from Pennsylvania, who asked how soon he could get them in his store.

From there, business took off. Today, 122 stores across the nation sell Lunchology bags.

When Lunchology began, the Thomas’ did much of the work themselves out of the basement of their Akron home. Kristi handled artwork. Chris worked with the technology aspects. Madison also pitched ideas.

Now Lunchology pays six contractors to print, research new designs and draw them. After outgrowing the basement, the company rented a warehouse in Canal Place in downtown Akron for inventory.

In 2004, the business brought in $31,000, Kristi said. Revenue doubled last year, Chris estimated.

Still, the Thomases say they won't take a nickel for themselves for the next five years. Last year's revenue was used to pay for an accounting service, equipment and supplies.

For now, Chris holds a full-time job in wireless communication technology.

Lunchology bags have 1,000 sets. Themes range from inspirational sayings to sports trivia to peculiar facts. A set of 25 bags sells for $4.99.

The Thomases want to continue growing the family business by selling the product in more stores. The company also is looking for investors, and even had an offer to purchase Lunchology.

The Thomases enjoy stopping by West Point Market, not only to eat and shop, but also to check the progress of Lunchology's first display.

``We just filled it before Christmas,'' Kristi said as she peeked her head around the half-empty display. ``So this is telling.''

Mike Rasor can be reached at 330-996-3838 or mrasor@thebeaconjournal.com