Gallery: How Home Depot Copied Apple to Build an Ingenious New Bucket
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An ergonomic handle and patent pending "pocket grip" on the underside sets Home Depot's new BigGripper bucket apart on the shelf, but more importantly, the design is a showpiece for a new approach to big box merchandising. *Photo: Herbst Produkt*
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Brick-and-mortar retailers have learned a lesson from Apple and are following their vertically integrated approach by developing high-quality, and exclusive, products to remain competitive in the age of Amazon. *Photo: Herbst Produkt*
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The clever container was developed in textbook fashion by [Herbst Produkt](http://www.herbstprodukt.com/), an award-winning firm with a client list that includes Clorox and Facebook. *Photo: Herbst Produkt*
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Like a good user-centered designer, founder Scot Herbst started the project by observing customers in their natural habitats and recording their difficulties using similar products. *Photo: Herbst Produkt*
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"We found this particularly true in the female demographic -- someone would load a garden bucket with soil and have a hell of a time lifting and maneuvering the ungainly mass," says Herbst. *Photo: Herbst Produkt*
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With this insight in hand, Herbst rearranged the elements of the bucket to create an asymmetrical, yet better balanced product. "The best part about these little innovations is they didn't add any cost to the product," says Herbst. *Photo: Herbst Produkt*
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The Big Gripper bucket is part of the retailer's "Made in America" initiative, which is attempting to "reshore" manufacturing jobs, and is being produced by a family-run company outside of Boston. *Photo: Herbst Produkt*
