Meme alert: A tiny 98-cent Lowe's plastic blue bucket is flying off shelves
The hottest product at Lowe’s right now isn’t what you’d expect. It’s not a power drill, a kitchen appliance or a flat-top grill. It’s — get this — a 98-cent tiny plastic bucket.
The retailer already sells Lowe’s-branded plastic buckets in a variety of sizes, including a 5-gallon and a 2-gallon option. But this newest, mini BPA-free version of it appears to be the smallest addition yet to the Lowe’s paint bucket lineup.
The half-quart lidless mini bucket, which Lowe’s launched in October, quickly went viral after TikTokers and Instagrammers discovered its “cuteness.” Lowe’s on its website said it sold 10,000 of the tiny buckets last week.
"There’s a growing trend across the retail space with minis – and home improvement is no exception,” Jen Wilson, SVP and chief marketing officer with Lowe’s.
TikToker @yarizelgenova posted a video on Oct. 13 about her search for the mini bucket at a Lowe’s store. That video now has over two million views.
Bagable.com visited a handful of Lowe’s stores in the New York metro area. Those stores were sold out of the baby bucket. It’s also sold out online.
A Lowe’s employee at one store said it flew off the shelves thanks to TikTok and he didn’t know when it would be restocked at his store.
At another Lowe’s store, an employee’s wife alerted him to be on the lookout to score a mini bucket for himself after she saw it trending on social media.
"There’s a growing trend across the retail space with minis – and home improvement is no exception,” Jen Wilson, senior vice president and chief marketing officer with Lowe’s, said in a statement to Bagable.com.
“Our mini Kobalt tool box, which sold out last holiday, is one example. We drafted off this growing trend with one of our most iconic branded items – the Lowe’s blue bucket….and started by giving them away to influencers. Turns out, they went crazy over them and we knew right away we needed to make these available to our customers,” she said.
Everything “mini” is in right now
Industry watchers point to the continued popularity of the “miniature trend” that’s taken hold across all kinds of consumer products — toys, cosmetics, perfumes, packaged foods, candy, school supplies, accessories such as watches — for fueling an obsession with tiny versions of everyday things, even a mundane paint bucket.
“Good things do come in small packages,” Marshal Cohen, chief retail industry analyst with market research firm Circana, told Bagable.com.
“There are several things at play here,” he said. “One is the price, of course, as consumers continue to wrestle with the cost of living and food prices still high, although those increases have slowed. So finding smaller versions of products consumers like and need is key.”
But the ‘big’ story behind ‘small’ is the viral connection on social media, Cohen noted. “Target has a small [Stanley] cooler now in many colors and people are still posting where they are with their Target cooler, which is sold out everywhere,” he said.
In toys specifically, brands such as Miniverse and Mini Brands are again on the annual must-have toys lists because they are at the forefront of this miniature trend in a fun and playful way.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Mini Brands (from Zuru Toys), makes collectible tiny replicas of everyday brands such as a jar of Skippy peanut butter, a can of SPAM or a container of Mentos gum. Mini Brands’ latest collaboration is with beauty products chain Ulta, where it launched toy mini of best-selling cosmetics products from E.L.F. Beauty, Tarte Cosmetic and Redken.
Miniverse is a popular brand from toymaker MGA Entertainment that’s created an entire universe of mini toy food items that come in a surprise kit with all the toy ingredients to make a mock dish.
Coming back to Lowe’s mini bucket, how exactly do you put this petite two-cup bucket to good use?
Lowe’s offered up a few suggestions: Put a small plant in it, or use it to store mini paint brushes.
TikTokers and Instagrammers have a few ideas, too. They’re using it to hold toothbrushes, makeup brushes, candy and even mini ice cubes.
Lowe’s said it expects to be fully restocked with its mini buckets in the first quarter of 2025.