Snack for People on the Way Up

If you’re sick of hearing about yuppie this and yuppie that, please go on to the next item.

If you’re not, this might push you over the edge.

Just in time for the holidays, two certified 33-year-old yuppies, Jim Bode of Palm Springs and Bill Hendricksen of Riverside, have come up with what might be the definitive product for young urban professionals to spend $7.95 of their hard-earned bucks on--Yuppie Chow, touted as “extra nutrition for upward mobility.”

Does that conjure up pictures of crunchy snacks that help whiten the teeth of young dogs? It needn’t. Inside the 13-inch-high box offered by Bode’s and Hendricksen’s new Riverside-based company is, quite simply, popcorn.

The Marriott hotel chain has already nibbled, putting in an order for its gift shops. So have the Lazarus department stores, based in Columbus, Ohio, and Filene’s in Boston, among others.

“It was a funny idea that Jim had back in August after he was feeding his dog,” Hendricksen said.

Together, Bode (pronounced Bohdee), who is director of marketing for Canyon Hotel in Palm Springs, and Hendricksen, who owns a refrigerated food-storage warehouse, invested $5,000 to incorporate Rainbow Specialties and design a package with yuppie tips and recommended daily dining amounts, depending on whether you’re a mere corporate lawyer or have arrived and own your own company.

A sample: “Yuppie Chow products meet the high acquisitive demands of yuppies and help to ensure their development into strong, healthy millionaires.”

“Our wives think we’re crazy,” Hendricksen said, “but they’ve thought that for a long time.”

Hendricksen said he and Bode go way back--”to the sandbox”--in Kenosha, Wis. They grew up together and attended the University of Wisconsin. Eight years ago, Hendricksen moved to Southern California, and Bode followed about a year ago.

Now, let’s see. If Bill and Jim spend $2 to produce each box of Yuppie Chow and sell it at wholesale for $3.95, how long will it take them to reach the pot of gold at the end of Rainbow Specialties?

“I would say that we’re not that far from breaking even,” Hendricksen said. Not bad for coming late to the bandwagon.