---
title: Can you have Tupperware without parties?
description: Tupperware, once only sold via direct sales “parties,” is coming to Target.
---

[Hustle News ](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news)

# [Can you have Tupperware without parties?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/10062022-tupperware)

 Written by [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) | Oct 6, 2022 7:10:36 AM

Tupperware, once only available at parties, is now at Target — which is arguably less fun and doesn’t include homemade canapés.

Tupperware CEO Miguel Fernandez recently [wrote](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/were-reinventing-our-business-welcoming-more-people-party-fernandez/) in a LinkedIn post that the food storage brand is trying to reinvent itself for a new generation of consumers unfamiliar with direct sales.

#### **Chemist and Tupperware founder…**

… [Earl Tupper](https://www.tupperware.com/pages/about-us#:~:text=In%201946%2C%20chemist%20Earl%20Tupper,t%20sell%20well%20in%20stores.) patented his double-sealed plastic lid in 1947, [per](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/story-brownie-wise-ingenious-marketer-behind-tupperware-party-180968658/) *Smithsonian*, but it was advice columnist Brownie Wise who pioneered the Tupperware party.

Because most households hadn’t used plastic containers, Wise started a successful business recruiting women to host parties where they’d demo and sell products on commission.

- Tupper hired Wise as VP of marketing in 1951.
- By 1954, 20k people were involved in its direct sales network.

Their partnership didn’t last — in 1958, Tupper [ousted](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/tupperware-tupper) Wise and sold the company for $16m — but Wise’s parties did. In 2019, there were [3m+](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tupperware-a-blast-from-the-past/) sellers worldwide.

#### **Tupperware has tried and failed…**

… to move into traditional retail. A 2003 Target partnership [resulted](https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB107706271446632041) in a decline in both sellers and sales.

Then-CEO Rick Goings said it would take two years to recover, and vowed to never do another “major deal with a retailer.”

#### **But could it work this time?**

It likely depends on where people prefer to buy their Tupperware.

There’s been [backlash](https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-mlm-female-friendship-costs-20190122-story.html) against direct sales and the many MLMs that have since borrowed Wise’s tactics, but Tupperware remains popular.

In 2020, amid the pandemic, sales jumped 72% in the US and Canada thanks to virtual parties and a home-cooking boom, [per](https://www.modernretail.co/retailers/digital-tupperware-parties-are-bringing-the-brand-back-into-vogue/) *Modern Retail*.

**And now, **a man who is [very excited](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pbIIMrhUFU) to tour the Tupperware Museum.

[View full post](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/10062022-tupperware)

```json
{
  "@context" : "http://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Juliet Bennett Rylah"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2023-10-11T19:47:58.732Z",
  "datePublished" : "2022-10-06T07:10:36Z",
  "headline" : "Can you have Tupperware without parties?",
  "image" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "height" : 328,
    "url" : "https://7355427.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7355427/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/274457943-HS-News-Brief_2022-10-06T000757.603Z.webp",
    "width" : 600
  },
  "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/10062022-tupperware",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "height" : 60,
      "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png",
      "width" : 60
    },
    "name" : "Hustle News"
  }
}
```