Picture this: after a long week at work, you're finally enjoying a fancy dinner with your sweetheart. Your eyes meet over the buttery bananas foster, and you start to lean in for a kiss when the whole table suddenly wobbles beneath your elbows. Your wine glasses tumble, and your crisp white shirt is ruined — not to mention the romantic moment spoiled. When you're paying $80 for a steak, you would think a restaurant could afford stronger tables!
Trying to enjoy a meal on a wobbly table can be one of the most annoying experiences, whether you're dining out or cooking at home. Sugar packets and spare napkins stuffed under the table will only last so long, and they're not a very aesthetically pleasing solution. That's why Steven Christian from Houston, Texas came up with a sleek, sturdy, and durable way to fix wobbly tables: the Table Jack. Caravan Stabilizer Legs
After working in the restaurant industry for over 18 years and owning three of his own restaurants, Christian and his customers developed a mutual hatred for wobbly tables. The Table Jack is a $15 leveler kit that allows waitstaff, customers, or homeowners to quickly balance a table with the push of a pedal. To help him grow his business, Christian brought the Table Jack onto season 6 of Shark Tank (available on Hulu), but would the tables turn in his favor? Here's what happened on Shark Tank and Table Jack's journey after the episode.
Steven Christian asked for $100,000 in exchange for 25% of his business, a rather generous equity offer compared to other deals often proposed on Shark Tank. Since he started selling the Table Jacks two years prior, Christian had made $200,000 in sales. He had been working hard to market the product, even peddling door-to-door in various cities. Upon hearing this, Kevin O'Leary jumped in, arguing that Christian should focus on selling his patented idea to table manufacturers instead of retrofitting restaurants. Mark Cuban disagreed because restaurants would rather purchase Christian's product directly than replace all of their tables.
"I don't need to hear anymore. I'm out," declared O'Leary, likening Christian's hands-on business plan to the seventh layer of hell in Dante's Inferno. Barbara Corcoran was out too. "It's really clever, it really works, but just on one type of table," stated Lori Greiner, "I'm out." Robert Hajervac was out too, put off by the restaurant industry as a whole. "Anybody who goes door-to-door is just close to my heart," said Mark Cuban, a fellow Texan, "But the problem is I'm not ready to invest $100,000 to be a partner." Christian thanked the Sharks and humbly walked out of the tank, but not without a clever comeback. "When the Sharks go to dinner tonight, I hope that their table does wobble," said Christian, "Because they will the thinking of Table Jacks for the rest of their lives."
While Steven Christian didn't seal a deal with any of the Sharks, it seems that the Table Jack still succeeded as a result of the Shark Tank effect. The extra publicity from the episode drew dozens of fresh eyes to his business. Chrisitan reminisced about the Shark Tank experience in a post on LinkedIn. "I can't believe it has been almost 3 years," he wrote," What an experience! The exposure has been amazing as it re-airs every few months. TableJacks has grown to a new level and we now have customers I used to dream about!" A commenter wrote in response, "For us in the restaurant industry this was great and I remember watching this episode thinking, 'where was this 20 years ago?'"
In 2015, Christian launched a new business called Chill Solution LLC, which marketed a handful of his other restaurant-related gadgets. Some examples include the BucketChiller, TravelSalter, and TableSpider. The BottleSalter, another one of Christian's inventions, was designed to evenly coat beer bottle necks in salt before serving and was even briefly sold on Amazon.
It seems that Table Jack is still in business and enjoying some growth in the industry. As of April 2023, the company had sold Table Jacks to dozens of chain restaurants and businesses across the nation, including Olive Garden, Buffalo Wild Wings, Denny's, and more. Having found such wonderful success, the company is pulling in an annual revenue of about $2 million. The Table Jacks website still seems to be active and selling products, including a full Table Jack kit, glides, or individual jack replacements. The Table Jack is designed to last for years while withstanding mop water, foot traffic, spilled sodas, and more. Steven Christian even offers a one-year warranty on the product, but it seems the springs can wear out after a few years in a busy restaurant.
While Table Jack is still around, it seems that Steve Christian's other company, Chill Solution, no longer has a functioning website, and the domain name is up for sale. Social media accounts for Table Jack have also been relatively quiet since 2018 — calling into question how active the company really is. Additionally, those searching for the pages have to watch out for possible fake accounts that could redirect them to phishing sites.
Steven Christian has continued to work in and around the food service industry, with an impressive resume now totaling over 26 years. One of his restaurants, Christian's Tailgate Bar & Grill, has grown to multiple locations around the Houston area and receives great customer reviews at all locations. Christian is still listed as the owner of Table Jacks LLC and Chill Solution LLC on his LinkedIn profile.
RV Leveling & Stabilization As far as the Table Jack is concerned, it seems the product is still being produced and sold on the company's website. While most of the product feedback seems positive, there are some flaws in the design that cause springs to break. In the future, Christian may put his energy toward updating the durability of the Table Jack. The fate of other Chill Solution products like the BottleSalter, TableSpider, TableButler, and TravelSalter is unknown. It's possible that Christian will continue to explore and invent more home and restaurant-oriented products. Who knows, maybe he'll appear again on Shark Tank someday!