By Karen McDonough

FRISCO -- Maritza Bailey, an organizer at heart, struggled in her kitchen keeping her cans straight and rotated properly. Being a busy wife and mother of three young children, she was spending a lot of time keeping her canned foods such as black beans, tomatoes and corn organized in the small nook of her cozy kitchen pantry.

She finally asked her handy husband, Kelvin, a skilled craftsman who was always coming up with new inventions, to figure something out for her. If he could come up with a way for her to actually see each canned good label and easily rotate them, she would be thrilled. That was in 1993. 

Kelvin created the Can Organizer, a cabinet unit made of metal shelves, wood framing and casters to move about. Functionality and mobility all in one. This worked well in the Bailey kitchen for years, but Kelvin wanted to improve the design, manufacturing and marketing of his invention. After a restless night's sleep in October 2004, he came up with his current Can Organizer (patent pending) design.The original Can Organizer was large and bulky and would not fit in just any pantry. The new version is small and functional enough to fit in any size pantry or cupboard or sit on a kitchen countertop. He also designed it using a lighter weight material. Kelvin Bailey, a Texas-born inventor, has been selling his line under the Pantry Maid name since January 2005 with much success.

Today, his Can Organizer is sold online at www.pantrymaid.com. The product is small and practical but it's built as an independent unit out of heavy-duty plastic that resembles painted wood to give it flexibility and keep it affordable. The organizers are lightweight and easy to pick up and they come in five different widths and two different depths to accommodate any standard kitchen cabinet or pantry shelf. They also come with an easy-to-use adjustment tab on top to make fitting cans of any size a breeze. 

"The product's strength, durability and flexibility sets it apart," Kelvin said. "They are individual units rather than a group unit. All of the other companies with similar products on the market sell theirs as a group unit. I sell mine in individual units that can be grouped together. You can buy exactly what you want. Budget wise, you're not buying more than you need. You're not stuck buying a size you don't want."

What makes this product a favorite is that you don't have to worry about canned goods going bad. This front-loading system lets you use the oldest can first. And being able to easily see what's there allows for simple inventory control; you know what you have in stock before you go grocery shopping. It's a time saver and ultimately a money saver too.

People who buy the product range from single moms to couples of all ages to retired folks to pet owners, really anyone looking to keep their pantry straight and canned goods neat. Some customers, who have stored about a year's worth dry goods in their home, use the organizers in their basements or other out-of-the-way areas, Kelvin said. They even work well for managing and storing pet food cans for dogs and cats.

Currently, Kelvin sells nationwide and has customers in Canada and Hawaii. Soon he hopes to sell to large retail outlets such as The Container Store, Wal-Mart, Home Depot and PetSmart.

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