Celebrating a Super Rep; John Colbert, serving the Pacific Northwest for 39 years. Here is John’s bio in his own words:
1970 – Joined Chartpak as a factory sales rep in the Northwest. Territory was expanded to Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and Hawaii.
1980 – All Company reps became Manufacturer’s Representatives for Chartpak.
1983 – Joined Rhodes & Co as the Manufacturers Rep in the Northwest.
1997 – Started CER (Colbert, Eichinger, Rhodes & Co) along with Tom Eichinger covering the 13 western states.
2005 – Tom and I agreed to split the company and I started Northwest Sales Assoc.,Inc.
2009 – Mooney Sales & Marketing to take over all sales of Northwest Sales Assoc.,Inc.
I have enjoyed 39 great years in a wonderful industry.
Best wishes, John, for a happy and productive retirement and thanks for all those great years!
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! Nora Hackenberg; An Artist\’s Artist
Armadillo Art & Craft and Colorfin LLC, manufacturer of PanPastel™ and Sofft™ Tools, announced last week that it has reached an agreement for Armadillo to take on the physical distribution of all Colorfin products effective May 11th, 2009. The new arrangement will allow Bernadette Ward & Ladd Forsline, owners of Colorfin, to focus on manufacturing, consumer marketing, international sales and further product development projects.
We recently received a note from Susan Kocsis of Search Press that had some sad news about an art instruction industry publishing pioneer. Please contact Arthur with your words of support:
Good to see you all in Louisville. What a pleasant surprise, I have never spent any time there and thought it was really quite cosmopolitan for a “2nd tier” city or whatever they call it.
But I’m not really writing about Louisville, I’m writing about a former NAMTA member who was beloved in the industry and is in his final days. I think members that know him might like to send a card or message before it’s too late.
Here’s his address
Arthur & Jo Schwartz
Woodstocker Books
15 Meads Mtn Rd
Woodstock, NY 12498
Work 800 669-9080
Home 845 679-4024
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.
Greg Hamamoto, the retired Sales Manager of Yasutomo, passed away on April 27th at 78 years old. Greg was well known and liked by many during his 20 years in the industry.
More NAMTA News
“Best of” results: Louisville 2009 – Show Awards
Congratulations to the following exhibitors:
Best Small Booth: Alpha Art Materials, Inc.
Best Medium Booth: Masterpiece Artist Canvas, Inc.
Best Large Booth: Golden Artist Colors, Inc.
Best New Exhibitor: Grex Airbrush
Judges Special Recognition: Pebeo, Inc.
Best Point of Purchase: Tri Art
Best Packaging: Hot Cakes – Enkaustikos Way Art Supply
Best New Product: Hot Cakes – Enkaustikos Way Art Supply
Best New Kid’s Product: Arttero Story Book Kits
GOLDEN Wins NAMTA Award & Hires New Creative Director ; Writes Bill Hartman, Golden’s Sales Director, “It was great to see many of you at the recent NAMTA Show in Louisville. For those of you not able to attend, we missed you and wanted to make sure that we updated you on the latest news from GOLDEN.”
GOLDEN Wins NAMTA Award
Golden Artist Colors was recently honored by NAMTA with the recognition of the 2009 Large Booth Award. GOLDEN accepted the award at the Annual Meeting, which was held at the Marriott Downtown in Louisville.
GOLDEN Hires New Creative Director
The key creative force behind the award winning NAMTA GOLDEN booth this year was new Creative Director Christopher Farrell. Originally from Salinas, California, Christopher received a BA from the School of Visual Arts in New York where he completed his Bachelors of Fine Arts and went on to a brilliant creative career in marketing and advertising. Married to Brenda for 20 year, he spends his spare moments helping to raise their five children and riding his motorcycle.