Industry News

Industry News

Mike MayerckPurveyors of Art, in Boone, NC has closed their original location and moved 8 miles up the road to new and better facility.

Mike Mayerck, a respected industry rep for over 20 years and formerly with Grimstad Comerford Group, has taken a position as National Accounts Manager with 3L Corporation of Denmark.

With sadness we report that Ron Nelson, MacPherson’s customer service rep extraordinaire, has resigned. Ron has been “Mr. MacPherson’s” for nearly 29 years and his resignation was a personal decision that he has been considering for some time. He always took great pride in helping each of our customers through challenging situations and took a similar pride in the success of our company. Ron’s departure really marks the end of an era at MacPherson’s, and the company will not be the same without him. We wish him the best.


Congratulations to Marilyn Hajjar, manager of Arch in San Francisco, who has been elected the President of retailer group IAMART. Kathy Brennan, the immediate past President, has been elected Vice President. They will both serve two year terms.

Michaels Stores has promoted Stuart Aitken to Executive VP/Chief Marketing Officer and Wilson Zhu to Executive VP, Global Sourcing. Jeff Scherer of Bain Capital will be the interim General Manager for all business units until a permanent GM is named.

Shelley Broader, formerly with Sweetbay Supermarkets in Florida, has been named president and chief operating officer at Michaels Stores. Broader becomes the No. 2 executive at the nation’s largest arts and crafts chain.

Tom Bazzone, Michaels Executive Vice President Specialty Business (Aaron Bros.), left the company July 2, 2008. Jim King has been given added responsibility as Aaron Brothers Senior Vice President – General Manager, reporting to Shelley Broader, President & COO of Michaels, effective June 23, 2008. In a related operational realignment, the three merchandising divisions will be led by Senior Buyers Eileen Miller, Deanna Young, and Sven Olsen reporting directly to Jim King. With these changes, Eileen Miller, Senior Buyer Photo Framer & Albums will also oversee Art Supplies and Wall Décor.

David Pyle has left F & W Publications to become vice president and publisher, Art & Jewelry Division, Interweave Press. At nearly the same time, the publisher announced the acquisition of American Artist, Drawing, Watercolor, and Workshop magazines from Nielsen Business Media.

Spectrum Art Supplies in Chicago has closed its store due to slow sales.

Cause for Celebration!: Look for the Grand Opening this week of Artworks on Main in North Carolina.

Lara Tefsky the art supply buyer at Goods Of Evanston has joined Tom Thumb Hobby & Crafts.

A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts Inc. is closing several stores and cutting back on opening new ones. The company blamed the current retail environment and said that after reviewing its properties this year it will shutter between 7 and 10 underperforming stores. It closed 2 stores last year and will be cutting back on its new store openings in 2008 from the 14 originally planned to between 8 and 12. In related news, the company announced the resignation of Marc Katz as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in order to pursue a career opportunity in the private equity sector. In their search for a new Chief Financial Officer both internal and external candidates will be considered. In the interim, Michael G. Zawoysky, Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis, as Acting Chief Financial Officer and has named Rodney B. Schriver, Vice President and Controller, as Principal Accounting Officer.

Charming Shoppes retail chain has named Alan Rosskamm its chairman of the board. Rosskamm was the chief executive officer of Jo-Ann Stores Inc. from October 1985 to August 2006, and chairman of Jo-Ann’s board of directors from July 1992 to August 2006. Charming Shoppes, based in Bensalem, PA, operates 2,410 stores nationwide under the Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines Plus Sizes and Petit Sophisticate names.

John Lawrence, the buyer at Kennedy Book in Kentucky, retired at the end of June.

iAMart member Art Mart Muncie will be moving to a new and expanded location.

Pentel‘s Tim Fallihee has been awarded the Office Products Wholesalers Association’s (OPWA) leadership award for 2008.

Guillaume Hoareau joined Letraset in England June 2, 2008 as Sales Manager. Mike Travers will be taking a step back from the business on a day-to-day basis but will continue as a consultant for Letraset.

Sue Lindstrom former owner of the Paper Source is recovering well from a serious illness, but will no longer be involved in the business. In related news, Lonnie Tucker is now Paper Source‘s General Merchandising Manager.

Pearl has closed its Huntington Beach location. A sign on the front door reads “LOST LEASE”.

Staff at Daler-Rowney’s Bracknell, UK plant went on strike on June 6th for a one day protest over contract negotiations.

Positive signs for the art & craft industry: Mike Hartnett reports in his Creative Leisure New (CLN), “Meanwhile, home-seamstress haven Jo-Ann … delivered surprisingly strong first-quarter earnings after a stretch of dismal results, thanks in part to strong sales of sewing notions, quilting, and craft items. Same is true for Michaels … suggesting that consumers are going back to the basics as they spend more time at home.” – Jennifer Waters, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, in the June 13 edition. Also CLN is reporting stronger that expected art material sales. The cause? Some think it’s due to Baby Boomers retiring and picking up (or returning to) painting. … The Ready to Paint series from Search Press (Watercolour Flowers, Watercolour Landscapes, Watercolour Trees and Woodlands) was featured on A Good Age, a retirement and aging blog written for The Patriot Ledger (circ. 51,105), the daily newspaper in Quincy, MA.

Best wishes to Lou Reeves, NAMTA executive board member & Arizona/Michigan based MFG Rep who recently suffered a heart attack. Lou sends his well wishers sincere thanks and is on the road to a full recovery.

Walter Foster Publishing is in the process of closing its warehouse in Laguna Hills, CA and moving the stock to a warehouse in Osceola, WI operated by another affiliate of its parent company, Quayside Publishing. The entire warehouse stock will be moved by July 7th and shipments are scheduled to resume by July 15th. The sales offices and creative staff will remain in California.

Andrew Knowles has left UK based art & craft distributor Design Objectives to pursue other career opportunities.

Helvi Wamsley, owner of the long closed Wamsley’s Art Supply and Bed & Breakfast in San Francisco, will celebrate her 90th birthday in July. All the best, Helvi!

Canson has appointed a new sales rep, recent University of Massachusetts graduate Emily White, who will be covering the Southern California territory.

New Store Openings: Utrecht has opened another store in San Francisco on Van Ness Ave. In the works are two other stores; Carle Place, a community in Long Island, NY and Ft. Lauderdale, FL. We have heard that Dick Blick plans to open a large format art supply store in Philadelphia. If our information is accurate, the store will be located in the 1300 block of Chestnut Street in the Center City and will be the largest store in the chain. The Philadelphia location will be the third store in Pennsylvania. The Artist’s Studio, an independent retailer, will open soon in Brookings, OR.

The main factory and storage building of Activa Products (maker of Celluclay) in Marshall, TX caught fire on the night of Monday, June 23rd, and burned to the ground. We are working closely with their operations team to keep products flowing until they get back on their feet. Owner Frank Strauss says, “All 40 employees have been assured of continued employment once full manufacturing resumes.”

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