Stephen Davis took his first plane ride when he was 23 years old, shortly after graduating from college. Never having had the opportunity to travel as a child, his travel experiences sparked a passion that he and his wife, Ashlei, have parlayed into a multimillion-dollar business by selling with Amazon.
The idea for TAKE OFF Luggage came after Stephen booked roundtrip airfare on a budget airline for $40, only to discover that carry-on bag fees cost almost three times as much as the ticket.
“It just didn’t make any sense that I had to pay more money to carry my own bag onto the plane than for the actual flight,” he said. “Looking at my carry-on, I just had the idea, like, ‘I wonder if I took the wheels off, will it fit inside the personal item sizer?’ And I can avoid those carry-on fees from the airline.”
He began researching and connected with a manufacturer to create what is now TAKE OFF Luggage’s signature product, a suitcase with 360-degree removable wheels that pop on and off with the push of a button, converting carry-on luggage into a “free” personal item. The company also sells jackets, duffel bags, pouches and more to help optimize the travel experience and keep costs low for budget-conscious travelers.
“When the opportunity came for me to create something that helps people travel more and save money while traveling so they can see more, it was something that I knew for sure that I needed to do—and that it would change a lot of people’s lives,” said Stephen. “That’s why I’m so passionate about taking off and traveling.”
TAKE OFF Luggage began selling direct-to-consumer in February 2022 with just two or three sales per week. Two months later they began selling their products in the Amazon store, and sales quickly took off.
“When we started selling on Amazon, our world changed,” Ashlei said. “It was a [breakout moment] that we didn’t know was possible. What I came to realize is that customers trust Amazon.”
Last year, the company saw nearly $1.5 million in sales.
“The growth on Amazon has [been] a lot. To go from zero to seven figures in less than two years is something amazing,” Stephen said, adding that TAKE OFF Luggage is on track to reach $3 million in sales in 2024 with continued investments in marketing and advertising. “It’s been fantastic.”
The Davises said their ability to scale is powered by Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). In addition to improving delivery speed for customers and reducing shipping costs, FBA has been “life-changing” for the business, Stephen said.
“When we switched to Fulfillment by Amazon where Amazon handled everything and took [the logistics] off our plate, it made everything easy for us,” he added, calling the decision a “no-brainer.”
With Amazon, “we can just focus on the main thing, which is growing our business,” he added. “We actually kind of push people to Amazon because it’s less work we have to do.”
The Davises are also part of Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator (BBA), a program designed to help Black-owned businesses achieve sustainable growth.
“It’s been phenomenal,” Ashlei said. “It helps us with things that we didn’t know we needed and has opened our eyes to a whole new way of promoting our business and advertising.”
“With us being such a small business, it really helps,” she added.
With Amazon handling shipping and fulfillment, the Davises are now turning their attention to growing the TAKE OFF Foundation, an initiative that aims to help inner-city and underprivileged youth in the Detroit area learn more about life through travel. In partnership with local Detroit-based organizations, the foundation donates suitcases and travel accessories and pays for trips for young people to be able to travel for the first time.
“The travel experience opens your mind to see how other people live and to see the possibilities,” Stephen said. “I feel like the earlier they do it, it can maybe take their lives in a different direction with the more they see.”
“And as TAKE OFF Luggage grows, the TAKE OFF Foundation will grow and it will give us an opportunity to give back even more,” he added.