Drinkers koozie up to their containers.

• Position: Kool-A-Brew Inc.'s foam-rubber can holders

In 1979, Ginny Lassiter and her late husband hoped their idea to make foam-rubber can holders, called koozies, would bring in extra cash for a year or two. "We thought it would just be a fad," she says.

It turned out to be a cool idea. Calabash-based Kool-A-Brew Inc., which Lassiter, 50, now runs with her second husband, Joe Lassiter, 56, had sales of $2.5 million last year. On beaches, around pools and in boats, people stuff their soft drinks and beers into the little rubber wraps to keep them cold.

Lassiter and first husband Joe Temple started the business in the basement of their Sunset Beach house. Now with 40 employees, it ships to every state, as well as overseas, and is one of the seven major koozie makers in the country. It counts Sea World, Budweiser and cruise lines among its customers.

Kool-A-Brew's 40 products all relate to drinks, either carrying them or keeping them cold. Each year the company sells about a million of the can holders, now in 19 colors, which retail at 99 cents to $1.50. Another item is bottle suits - made of neoprene, used for wet suits - that zip up around bottles to keep them cool.

Kool-A-Brew emblazons logos and names on the koozies for customers, who order through catalogs or the Internet. The insulated foam rubber comes from a Roanoke, Va...