The brothers Damon and Barron Lau have been involved with mixed martial arts since they were kids. While working at their father's advertising company, Damon had an opportunity to meet mixed martial arts superstar: Randy Couture. After becoming good friends, they and the legend teamed up to form a business appropriately named Round 5.
It was during a brainstorming session where the two were talking about developing MMA related prodiucts, that Randy and the brothers Lau, came up with an idea about designing and manufacturing their first series of collectible Martial Arts figurines.
The brothers were a terrific team. Damon, with his sales and promotional skills managed to recruit Chinese manufacturers in Hong Kong to produce their collectibles, and brother Barron came up with the artistic designs. Patrick offered his advertising agency's resources and joined his sons on a quest to promote and market their products.
Large retailers like Walmart were one of the first to sign up to sell their figurines. Soon after, Round 5 acquired a licensing agreement with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) which now gives them access to literally hundreds of Martial Arts celebrities.
After their success with Walmart and signing with the UFC, Jakks Pacific, one of the biggest toy manufacturers in the world, wanted in on the action and formed a strategic alliance with the Lau's and now, Round 5 has access to many untapped international markets!
Today, over six-thousand (6000) retail outlets in North America including Toys-R-Us, Target, K-Mart, Zellers, Best Buy and of course, Walmart, carry their product. And the popularity of their figurines doesn't seem to be letting up. Sales continue to increase worldwide. |