VersaFlex, headquartered in North Ridgeville, Ohio, inventively shifted gears during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company, which specializes in customizable equipment bags, adapted its operation to provide an increasingly necessary product: masks.

However, these are no ordinary masks. The customizable masks are designed to prevent eyeglasses from fogging up. Larry Nolan, owner of VersaFlex, created this design inspired by his sister, Brigid Nolan.

Thanks to a gasket-style layer that flips up at the top of the masks, covering the nose and cheek bones, air is forced to go out of the sides of the mask rather than going straight up. This makes it easier for people that need glasses to wear masks without any inconvenience. Nolan recently told The Morning Journal, a newspaper in Lorain, Ohio, that he has filed paperwork with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for this innovative product.

Nolan’s business focuses on American-made, high-quality products. His washable pizza bags come with a five-year warranty and keep pizzas hot and dry. His customers’ only complaint? “They last too long,” Nolan jokes.

“It takes just as much labor to make a crap bag as it takes to make a quality one, [so you] just might as well make a quality one,” Nolan says. “Same with pizza—it takes just as long to make a bad pizza than it takes to make a good one, period. Make a good one, it pays off.”

Nolan applies this same philosophy to all of his products, including his variety of masks. His masks have quickly caught on. After an appearance on a local TV station in early July, VersaFlex received 6,000 orders in just one day. “I’m now playing catch-up,” he said.

Masks, much like social distancing, contactless delivery and carryout, are staples of current daily life for pizzeria owners, operators and employees and a standard piece of equipment for any and all industries still in business today. VersaFlex’s customization capabilities provide an added branding advantage to this new reality. These soon-to-be patented masks ease long-term wear and can become a branding opportunity for your pizza restaurant by being worn by your employees or sported by your customers. Nolan has already created designs for various branches of the U.S. military as well as the Cleveland Browns, the Pittsburgh Steelers and various local high schools, including his own alma mater.

Learn more about VersaFlex by visiting their website at versa-flex.com.