Cole Farms Inc

What Cole Farms Inc does

Reflective Inc., operating as Colebrothers.com and the Reflective Tape Store, is a privately held e-commerce retailer of retro-reflective safety tapes and related visibility products headquartered at 1610 Guam Lane in Gulf Breeze, Florida. Incorporated in Florida in 1997 and co-owned by Steve Cole and Staci Cole, the company self-describes as the largest US retailer of reflective tapes, carrying a deep catalog spanning Engineer Grade (Type 1, glass bead technology, ~75 candlepower) through High Intensity (Type 3, ~250 candlepower) to ultra-bright Prismatic films (Type 4 HIP, V82, V92, V98, SOLAS M82) that reflect at 700-1000+ candlepower. Products are sourced primarily from Orafol/Oralite (formerly Reflexite) and Nikkalite, with additional lines from 3M and Stimsonite, and are certified to regulatory standards including NFPA 1901, FMVSS 131/217, DOT C2, FRA 224, USCG/IMO SOLAS, MUTCD 2009, and ASTM D4956.

The business serves a fragmented base of end customers across multiple verticals: fire departments and EMS apparatus marking, trucking conspicuity tape, school bus fleets, railroad (FRA 224), marine vessels, surface marking contractors, and property/gate security applications. Revenue is generated primarily through direct-to-consumer online sales of tape rolls priced $40-$450 per SKU, with shipping via USPS Priority Mail and UPS/FedEx Ground, plus ancillary revenue from sister-site SewViz.com (sew-on reflective fabric), vinyl racing stripes, preformed thermoplastic pavement marking, and paid business startup guides for striping and sign shop operators.

The company operates with approximately 9 employees from a single location, has never raised institutional capital, and functions as a niche specialty retailer leveraging long-standing supplier relationships, regulatory compliance expertise, and 27 years of operating history rather than proprietary technology. No management team details, M&A activity, funding rounds, or institutional ownership are disclosed in available sources.

Name

Cole Farms Inc

Legal name

Reflective Inc.

Website

https://colebrothers.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Reflective Inc. (Colebrothers.com) is a Gulf Breeze, FL e-commerce retailer founded in 1997 that sells retro-reflective tapes and safety products to fire/EMS, trucking, school bus, rail, marine, and surface marking customers across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Reflective Safety Products

NAICS

Plastics Packaging Film and Sheet (including Laminated) Manufacturing (326112), Paper Bag and Coated and Treated Paper Manufacturing (322220)

SIC

Unsupported Plastics Film & Sheet (3081), Plastics, Foil & Coated Paper Bags (2673), Miscellaneous Plastics Products (3080)

akta.pro primary industry

Tapes, Labels & Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives (IMAEAGAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Aluminum Foil & Parchment Paper (CRAJAGAD)

Keywords

• Reflective tape products
• Conspicuity safety tape
• Vehicle visibility materials
• Prismatic retroreflective sheeting
• Marine SOLAS tape

Headquarters

HQ city

Gulf Breeze

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Reflective Tape Products: Sale of various reflective tape products including engineer grade, high intensity, and prismatic grades sold by the roll in various widths and lengths.
2. Reflective Accessories: Sale of reflective accessories including chevron panels, road markers, pavement tape, and installation products.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cole Farms Inc (operating as Reflective Inc. / Colebrothers.com) is a specialty retailer of retro-reflective tape products and related visibility/safety materials for fire apparatus, commercial vehicles, marine vessels, rail cars, school buses, parking lots, barricades, and property marking applications. The catalog spans glass-bead engineer grade (Type 1) through high-intensity (Type III/IV) and prismatic/SOLAS (Type 5) reflective films, plus accessories such as chevron panels, pavement markers, traffic cone collars, pavement marking tape, non-skid traction tape, and reflective glass beads. Value-added services include custom widths/lengths, in-house computer-cut chevron striping and vehicle graphics, and phone/email compliance consultation.

Product overview

Reflective Inc. (operating Colebrothers.com) is a retailer of reflective safety products and materials. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of reflective tapes and related safety products organized by grade and application. Core product lines include: various grades of reflective tape ranging from standard Engineer Grade (Type 1) with glass bead technology at approximately 75 candlepower, through High Intensity Type III at 250 candlepower, to ultra-bright Prismatic/Type 5 tapes (V82, V98, V92, SOLAS) utilizing microprism technology at 700-1000+ candlepower. The company also sells specialty tapes including DOT C2 conspicuity tape, School Bus tape, Rail Car FRA-224 tape, and Coast Guard approved SOLAS marine tape. Supporting products include raised pavement markers, traffic cone collars, chevron panels, diamond plate reflective solutions, barricade tape, pavement marking tape, court marking tape, non-skid traction tape, sew-on reflective fabric, and reflective glass beads. The company also offers business startup guides for parking lot striping and sign shop operations. Brands carried include Oralite (formerly Reflexite), Nikkalite, 3M, and Stimsonite. The company emphasizes products that are branded, certified, and QPL listed, with outdoor life expectancies ranging from 5-12 years depending on the film type.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Engineer Grade Reflective Tape (Type 1 Flexible / ELG) Flexible glass bead reflective tape reflecting at approximately 75 candlepower for vehicles, bollards, signs, automatic gates, dumpsters, roll-off containers and similar applications where flexibility is required; sold in 1" to 30" widths and multiple colors.
• Oralite 5650 Rapid Air Engineer Grade Reflective Tape Ultra bright engineer grade Type 1 reflective tape with rapid air technology available in 7 colors for standard and vehicle visibility applications.
• Black Reflective Tape Black reflective tape in three brightness levels from Nikkalite, 3M and Oralite brands that blends invisibly with black surfaces in daytime and reflects white at night for stealth/decorative visibility applications.
• Super Engineer Grade Reflective Tape (Type 2) Glass bead reflective tape approximately twice as bright as standard Engineer Grade, available in 6 colors in 1, 2 and 4 inch widths.
• Type III High Intensity Reflective Tape High intensity encapsulated lens glass bead reflective tape reflecting at approximately 250 candlepower, available in white, yellow, orange, blue, green and red in 1 and 2 inch rolls, plus a flexible version for vehicle surfaces.
• Type 4 High Intensity Prismatic Reflective Tape (HIP) High intensity prismatic reflective tape using microprism technology, available in white, yellow, orange, blue, green and red in 1, 2, 4 and 6 inch rolls.
• Oralite V82 Type 5 Prismatic Reflective Tape Ultra bright prismatic reflective tape based on AP1000 film approximately 10 times brighter than standard reflective tapes, 10-year outdoor rating, available in white, yellow, school bus yellow, orange, blue, green and red in widths up to 12 inches.
• Oralite V92 Daybright Reflective Tape Daybright prismatic retroreflective conspicuity tape approximately 7 times brighter than standard engineer grade and twice as bright as Type III, with 5-7 year all-weather durability.
• Oralite V98 Conformable Reflective Tape Conformable microprismatic reflective tape that is repositionable and clean-removable, NFPA 1901 compliant, 5 year outdoor life, available in 7 colors.
• Oralite M82 SOLAS Marine Reflective Tape Coast Guard and IMO approved marine retro-reflective tape reflecting at over 1000 Candelas for search and rescue environments; available in standard (FD1403), flexible (FD1404) and sew-on variants for life jackets and PFDs.
• DOT C2 Conspicuity Tape DOT and ASTM rated and approved conspicuity tape for trucks and trailers approximately 5 times more reflective than standard tapes, available in several types, patterns, widths and lengths, approved in all 50 states.
• School Bus Reflective Tape Oralite V59, V82 and V99 prismatic yellow conspicuity tape for school buses compliant with FMVSS 131 and FMVSS 217 standards, exceeding NHTSA and DOT requirements.
• Oralite FRA-224 Rail Car Reflective Tape FRA and AAR compliant prismatic grade rail car conspicuity tape available in yellow (amber) and white (silver), 10-year outdoor life, designed to improve nighttime visibility of rail cars.
• Oralite RGA Rail Gate Arm Reflective Tape Red/white 16/16 Type 5 prismatic rail gate arm tape for rail crossings, draw bridges and MUTCD regulated gates, 10 times brighter than standard reflective tapes, exceeding MUTCD 2009 Edition 8C.04 Paragraph 05 requirements.
• Pre-Made Chevron Panels Pre-made reflective chevron panels for fire apparatus tailgates and emergency vehicles manufactured from NFPA 1901 compliant Oralite V98 conformable prismatic material in red and fluorescent lime color combinations.
• Diamond Plate Reflective Solutions NFPA 1901 compliant reflective dots, overlays, chevron strips and diamond tabs designed for uneven diamond plate surfaces on fire apparatus; approximately 1 square foot coverage per sheet with pricing from $10 to $20.
• Chevron Striping Tapes Pre-striped chevron reflective tapes for fire apparatus and emergency vehicles, NFPA 1901 compliant, available in Engineer Grade Type I, V98 Lime/Red Conformable, Prismatic V82 Type 5 and Type 8 Crystal Grade.
• Pre-Striped Barricade Tape Pre-striped reflective barricade tape in red/white or orange/white hazard striping for barricades, barriers and construction zones, available in Engineer Grade Type 1, High Intensity Type 3 and High Intensity Prismatic Type 4 grades.
• Reflective Traffic Cone Collars Self-adhesive wrap-around reflective traffic cone collars and sleeves in Oralite reflective material that exceed DOT reflectivity requirements and are reboundable for standard traffic cone sizes.
• Stimsonite Reflective Raised Pavement Markers (C88/C80) Two-way reflective raised pavement markers supplied by Stimsonite in blue, yellow, white, green, red, yellow/red and white/red, applied via adhesive butyl pads or melt-down thermoplastic pads.
• Foil Based Pavement Marking Tape Self-adhesive aluminum foil based reflective pavement marking tape in white and yellow standard and premium grades for parking lots, roads, driveways and warehouses.
• Preformed Thermoplastic Pavement Marking Tape Preformed reflective thermoplastic pavement marking tape applied using torch heat for permanent pavement markings in roads, parking lots and other paved surfaces.
• Foil Based Court Marking Tape Self-adhesive aluminum foil based conformable court marking tape in 2 inch width and 150 foot rolls in white and yellow for semi-permanent or short term tennis and basketball court lines.
• Non-Skid Traction Tape OSHA compliant non-slip anti-skid traction tape in 2 inch widths in yellow, black and yellow/black hazard configuration for industrial and commercial locations requiring OSHA-compliant traction.
• Sew On Reflective Tape / Reflective Fabric ANSI rated reflective fabric tape (standard silver, black, iron on, sew on prismatic PVC vest trim) reflecting over 350 candlepower and machine washable for use in safety clothing.
• Reflective Glass Beads (AASHTO Type 1) AASHTO Type 1 roundness reflective glass beads in 50 lb bags for adding retroreflective properties to paint or thermoplastic markings at 6 pounds per gallon of wet paint.
• 3M Reflective Products Collection 3M branded collection of reflective products including 3930 High Intensity rolls, 983 Diamond Grade rolls, DG3 Chevron Panels, Diamond Plate Dots, DOT C2 truck tape and FRA rail car tape for trucks, trailers, fire apparatus and rail.
• Parking Lot Striping Business Startup Guide Educational guide to starting and operating a striping and sealcoating business covering licensing, equipment, pricing and marketing.
• Vinyl Graphics Sign Shop Business Guide Comprehensive sign shop business startup guide authored by Steven Cole BA/MBA, including a pricing spreadsheet program and vector art collection for new sign shop operators.
• Vinyl Racing Stripes for Automobiles Vinyl racing stripes computer-cut in-house from 3M vinyl with a 6 year outdoor/vehicle rating for Mustang and other automobiles; available in gloss and matte black variants.

Quantifiable outcome

• Prismatic tapes are approximately 5 times more reflective than standard reflective tapes
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Orafol (Oralite/Reflexite)coreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary supplier of prismatic reflective tapes. Oralite is the brand name for Orafol's retro-reflective products, formerly known as Reflexite who invented prismatic tape technology. Products include V82, V92, V98, SOLAS, and R99 tape lines.
• Nikkalite IndustriescoreTechnology or IntegrationSupplier of ELG grade flexible engineer reflective tape and Type 8 Crystal Grade (CRG) chevron striping products.
• AuthorizenetminorOthersCredit card payment processor for secure online transactions.
• PayPalminorOthersAlternative payment method for customer checkout.
• SewViz.comminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSister company selling standard silver reflective fabric tape, black reflective fabric, iron on reflective tape, and sew on prismatic PVC vest trim.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Uline: Major industrial supply distributor shipping safety, traffic, and facility maintenance products across North America with next-day delivery. Competes with Cole Farms for the same SMB and facility-manager buyer looking to bundle reflective and safety products in one cart.
• Grainger: Largest US industrial MRO distributor carrying reflective tapes, pavement marking, and safety products within a much broader catalog. Competes with Cole Farms on selection, logistics, and enterprise contract pricing for the same end buyers.
• Amazon Business: E-commerce giant's B2B arm that lists reflective tapes from multiple sellers with Prime-style logistics. Materially competes with Cole Farms on price discovery, search ranking, and convenience for SMB and individual buyers.
• McMaster-Carr: Iconic broad-line industrial supplier with extensive reflective and safety SKUs and best-in-class e-commerce UX. Competes head-on with Cole Farms for engineers, fleet managers, and contractors searching online for compliant reflective materials.
• Global Industrial: Direct-to-business industrial and safety products retailer with significant traffic control and reflective product assortment. Comparable mid-market e-commerce motion targeting facility, fleet, and government buyers.
• MSC Industrial Direct: Large US metalworking and MRO distributor with a growing safety and facility maintenance catalog including reflective tapes. Targets the same industrial buyer with account-based selling that Cole Farms lacks.

Direct peers

• Safety Zone: Online specialty retailer focused on safety, traffic control, and reflective products for industrial and facility buyers. Closely comparable assortment, pricing, and target customer to Cole Farms.
• TAPCO: Specialty manufacturer and retailer of traffic safety products including reflective sheeting, chevrons, and conspicuity tape. Closest direct competitor — vertical-focused, regulation-driven catalog, and similar buyer base of fleets, DOTs, and contractors.

Others

• 3M Safety & Industrial: Major upstream supplier of 3M reflective sheeting, diamond grade, and conspicuity products carried by Cole Farms. A supplier rather than competitor, but 3M's direct enterprise sales motion competes for the same large fleet and government accounts.
• Orafol (Oralite / Reflexite): Primary upstream supplier of Oralite branded reflective films used by Cole Farms. Important to flag as a peer because Orafol's strategic shift toward direct distribution could materially disrupt Cole Farms' reseller economics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cole-farms-inc

Compliance13 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cole Farms Inc