Inside MacPherson’s: Emeryville, It’s Our Home!
Thursday, May 28th, 2009MacMessenger is MacPherson’s very cool internal newsletter. Here is an article written by Alyssa Bardini from our HR Dept that explains the many charms of our home base.
“Ever wonder where in in heck MacPherson’s headquarters is located? Emeryville is a small town of 1.9 square miles and approximately 10,000 residents, but you’d never know it. Decidedly urban, “E’ville” is situated between Oakland and Berkeley, and is literally at the base of the Bay Bridge to San Francisco.
If asked to describe Emeryville, I’d say it has three parts. These aren’t geographic distinctions, but rather distinctions in purpose and feel – industrial, commercial, and a third category that is much harder to describe, maybe the ‘insiders’ Emeryville.
You don’t have to look far to become aware of Emeryville’s industrial past and present. There is a good deal of warehouse and industrial space close to our office, some revitalized, and some we wish would be. Train tracks bisect the city, utilized by both cargo and passenger trains.
Commercial development has been booming in the area over the past ten to fifteen years. The popular Emeryville Public Market provides a wide variety of international foods. New, brightly colored apartments and townhouses are scattered throughout the city. The big, blue IKEA is a noticeable part of the city’s landcape. Pixar Animation Studios, Jamba Juice, Bayer, Leap Frog, and of course, MacPherson’s, are all centered here.
Some of the most interesting places in Emeryville have been created by innovative people that have repurposed industrial spaces to become one-of-a-kind restaurants, bars, shops, art studios, and more. These places are often tucked-in to their surroundings and could be easily overlooked, but are well worth finding. For example, gourmet chocolatier, Charles Chocolates, is located in an old brick building just a block away from our office and features factory tours and tastings. Semifreddi’s bakes bread to be sold to local restaurants and grocery stores as well as making great sandwiches in their shop. Periscope Cellars down the street produces wine in a WWII submarine repair facility.
Emeryville also has some great community art to keep your eye out for. Large, colorful sculptures of active people brighten up the view under the freeway. The utility boxes here are bright yellow and feature artwork of stylized people in a variety of situations and predicaments. Newspaper stands painted by community members, including the son of MacPherson’s Customer Service Representative, Melissa Moralejo, can be seen throughout the city.
Among the urban surroundings, there are some great outdoor spots to enjoy. The city is located just on the water, with paths for running and bicycling along the edge of the bay. An exciting development for those us at MacPherson’s is a new park that is being created just behind our office. A popular community garden is located just past the park.
Aside from all the great places you’ll find within Emeryville, one of the great things about the city is its close proximity just about anything you could want. From here, you can be hiking in the hills, enjoying a major league baseball game, or shopping in San Francisco all in under twenty minutes.
Oh, and as for spots in Emeryville to buy art supplies? We are seriously limited! There are two chain locations Aaron Bros and Michaels, but no independents within easy driving distance. How about it all you creative retailing entrepreneurs? This place is crawling with artists and there’s a great art distributor just around the corner!”
Consumers are still willing to part with their hard won money for new products, but you’ve got to show them that it will help them achieve more that what their current tools will do. Here is just such an item. It turns out that Letraset’s new Aqua Promarker was one of the top picks for truly new and unique items from the NAMTA show in Louisville. The buzz words are “Pigmented” and “Watercolor” and Aqua ProMarkers twin-tip versatility produces amazing and different tonal affects or blending even after the ink has dried. Acid-free and lightfast, Aqua ProMarkers are perfect for scrapbooking, stamping, and watercolor-style illustration. Each twin-tipped marker features a brush nib on one side and bullet nib on the other.
LIQUITEX has introduced 2 New BASICS School Class Packs featuring tube color and brushes. (96ct in ea. Pack with +10% Off!)
3. GOLDEN Holiday Promotion
Sometimes news travels slowly to Lake Wobegon. We are pleased to report that last November, Nora Hackenberg of Artist & Display in Milwaukee, WI was featured with a cover article in Today’s Wisconsin Woman. Check out a great article that celebrates Nora, as well as Lynn and Jack Klein. This exceptional team has created an art retail institution that stands out globally for its innovations in merchandising, promotional activity and superior customer service. Read the article and see for yourself! 
A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts, Inc. has announced that David Abelman will join the Company as its Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Merchandising Officer reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, Rick A. Lepley. Mr. Abelman most recently served as the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Michaels Stores, Inc. 
GOLDEN Hires New Creative Director
Encaustics: Clearly the show buzzword. The “Hot Cakes” line from Enkaustikos got all the attention for having a compact display and easy to understand merchandising. Sold in tins instead of the traditional stick form, it was hard for many retailers to pass up the drop ship show special. Get your Hot Cakes here! We’ll support the open stock colors and accessories.
Speaking of this Mine that Bird, trainer Bennie Woolley Jr. was spotted at the Louisville Holiday Inn’s bar, posing for photos and signing autographs. It turns out he was “hangin'” until he decided whether he wanted to drive his horse all the way to the Preakness in Baltimore, MD!
