Rainbow Play Systems is a manufacturer of children's play equipment which are available through a network of over 200 retail outlets throughout the

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and

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History

Founded by Greg Foster in 1985 as a small custom job shop in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, the company has expanded. Foster founded the company when he was 18 years old. Due to its network of independent distributors, the company expanded across the United States throughout the 1990s. It currently operates out of a manufacturing facility on in

Brookings, South Dakota Brookings is a city in and the county seat of Brookings County, South Dakota, Brookings County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 23,377 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in South Dakota, fo ...

. According to the company, it has 150 employees, plus over 200 dealerships across the world.

White House Swing Set

One prominent customer of Rainbow Play Systems was the Obama family. On March 4, 2009, a swing set manufactured by the company was placed on the south lawn just outside the Oval Office of the White House, as a surprise for Malia and Sasha, the Obama daughters. This was the first playset on the White House lawn since the 1960s, during John F. Kennedy's presidency. According to Rainbow Play CEO Greg Foster, the White House's chief usher "did his research first on the Internet and narrowed it down to three or four companies", before choosing Rainbow Play. Before leaving the White House, the Obama family offered the swing set to the Trump family, who refused it, as the only Trump child who would use it would not be moving into the White House. The swing set was then donated to a local D.C. charity.

United Kingdom

Rainbow Play Systems in the

operates from the main headquarters in

Bagshot Bagshot is a large village in the Surrey Heath borough of Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. In the past, Bagshot served as an important staging post between London, Southampton and the West Country, evidenced by the ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and from 1 other Sales Office in

Wilmslow Wilmslow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is south of Manchester. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the parish had a population of 26,213 and the built up area had a p ...

Pandemic Impact

The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

reportedly resulted in higher sales of swing sets, including Rainbow Play play sets, due to more time being spent at home by families and children. According to the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

, Rainbow Play play sets had a four-week wait for most orders at the height of the pandemic.

References

{{reflist Companies based in Minnesota Manufacturing companies based in South Dakota