- [Narrator] Two-and-a-half hours outside of Seattle,
in this sleepy little town of Yakima, Washington,
lies a hidden empire.
And what they've been making
you've used your entire life. - It's like
one of those things that you go, “Oh my God!”
“That was invented?
“Oh, yeah, wow!”
My name is Stephanie, and I'm the oldest
of the Paxton women.
- My name is Kimberly and I'm in the middle. (laughing)
- My name is Melissa, and I am the baby.
We are the three sisters
behind the Kwik Lok corporation
and the little bag closures that you see
just about everywhere.
- [Narrator] And by everywhere,
she means everywhere.
- Typically around bread,
but it can be found on a variety of packages
from produce to potatoes.
We sell billions of Kwik Loks a year, billlllions.
(group laughing)
- [Narrator] The invention of the little
closures that could dates back
to their Grandfather, Floyd Paxton.
- The story certainly is
that our Grandfather whittled his first Kwik Lok
out of a credit card.
Whether or not that is actual fact
will probably never be discovered.
- [Narrator] But the bag closure business
isn't all fun and games.
- I would say our biggest competition
is the wire tie.
You know the thing that you twist,
that you can't untwist or get it all mixed up.
- [Narrator] Oh, yeah, those things.
Never thought about it, but if we're
being honest, I guess I never really thought
about bag closures in general.
- It's always so fun telling the story of the Kwik Lok.
It’s this little plastic square closure
that was invented in Yakima, Washington,
and has gone from this little town
to being sold globally and internationally.