<p><img src="https://static4.businessinsider.com/image/605cfbc06746fb0018a73cd8-1080/cfa distance.jpg" border="0" alt="cfa distance" data-mce-source="Rick Pescovitz"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>You might have seen them on your most recent trip through the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chick-fil-a-workers-face-cold-challenges-drive-thru-2021-2">Chick-fil-A drive-thru,</a> on a plane, or at a kid's sporting event. Under the Weather Pods are weather-resistant, screened-in structure that can be worn or sat in. </p><p>Rick Pescovitz designed the first pod in 2010 after he got the idea from an experience he had sheltering in a Porta Potty from bad weather during his daughter's soccer game. The Porta Potty inspired the shape of the original pod, which was made based on a laundry basket with a steel wire structure, Pescovitz told Insider.<img src="https://static2.businessinsider.com/image/605cfc006746fb0018a73cda-1650/nevada soccer.jpg" border="0" alt="nevada soccer" style="color: #000000;" data-mce-source="Rick Pescovitz"></p><p>The pods, which now come in more than 30 variations, were originally a big hit with parents like Pescovitz, and tailgaters, he said. Under the Weather began reaching out to crossing guards and ticket takers too, and business picked up in 2014. Since those early days, the company has sold a few hundred thousand pods according to Pescovitz</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chick-fil-a-massive-drive-thrus-problems-local-businesses-2021-2" data-e2e-name="inline-read-more-link">Chick-fil-A's out-of-control drive-thru lines have it facing off against local businesses and battling lawsuits</a></em></p><p>When COVID hit the US in March 2020, it could have been disastrous for the niche company. Before the pandemic, 90% of customers were sports fans and music festival attendees, Pescovitz, said, and February through May was the busiest season. COVID essentially shut down all of the company's usual business, and they were forced to pivot.</p><p><img src="https://static1.businessinsider.com/image/605cfc05106eb50019d05b3b-592/IntubationPodMinn.png" border="0" alt="IntubationPodMinn" data-mce-source="Rick Pescovitz"></p><p>Peskovitz saw the need for PPE on the news and he thought, "we could do something like that." Within four weeks Under the Weather had come up with a concept, samples, and the final product of the intubation pod, which provides extra protection for healthcare workers during one of the most <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-coronavirus-spreads-droplets-aerosols-poop-2020-5">potentially contagious procedures.</a> Under the Weather donated and sold these pods to hospitals and EMTs.</p><p><img src="https://static5.businessinsider.com/image/605e19198e71b3001851907e-817/Screen Shot 2021-03-26 at 1.23.55 PM.png" border="0" alt="Under the weather pods" data-mce-source="Under the Weather." data-mce-caption="Under the Weather Pods."></p><p>The wearable line has been the most popular since the start of the pandemic due to the rise of curbside pickup, Peskovitz told Insider. He says 25 to 30,000 sales can be directly attributed to COVID. Some <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chick-fil-a-workers-face-cold-challenges-drive-thru-2021-2">Chick-fil-a locations</a> use the walking pods for drive-thru and curbside employees, a deal that Peskovitz says has been "really good for us."</p><p>Many people are "uncomfortable or too prideful," to wear the pods, one <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chick-fil-a-workers-face-cold-challenges-drive-thru-2021-2">Indiana Chick-fil-A employee told Insider.</a> However, he likes them, saying "it keeps us dry, keeps iPads dry, blocks out the wind, and makes it more tolerable."</p><p><img src="https://static2.businessinsider.com/image/605e1bad8f71c3001853a87c-1980/NJ covid test.jpeg" border="0" alt="NJ covid test" data-mce-source="Rick Pescovitz"></p><p>As <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-chick-fil-a-drive-thrus-ipads-and-video-technology-2021-3">drive-thru and curbside</a> pickup continues to grow in importance, other brands are testing out the pods. Dunkin' and <a href="https://www.dutchbros.com/">Dutch Bros. Coffee</a> have rolled them out, and they're being tested at <a href="https://www.dutchbros.com/">Portillos,</a> Olive Garden, and Outback Steakhouse.</p><p>In the future, Peskovitz says he wants Under the Weather to grow sales to businesses and work with corporate chains directly, rather than finding interested franchisees to sell to separately. Private buyers can purchase pods directly from <a href="https://utwpods.com/pages/shop-all-pods'_vsrefdom=adwords&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjPaCBhDkARIsAISZN7TaSeLvIfEMBeDg3ZZb2kNdm8hdDQTX-CukxohRInwvV_CLwjBHniIaAin2EALw_wcB">Under the Weather</a>, or from Amazon, Dick's Sporting Goods, or Walmart.</p><p><em>Do you have a story to share about a retail or restaurant chain' Email this reporter at </em><a href="mailto:mmeisenzahl@businessinsider.com"><em>mmeisenzahl@businessinsider.com</em></a><em>.</em></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wearable-under-the-weather-pods-chick-fil-a-dunkin-drive-thru-2021-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story »</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-most-expensive-liquid-thoroughbred-horse-semen-2020-3">Why thoroughbred horse semen is the world's most expensive liquid</a></p>
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