With great sadness we report the passing of Fred Merck on July 1st. He was 76 years old. Fred was the owner of two Starvin’ Artist stores in the western suburbs of Chicago. In the mid 80’s, he owned VanArt in Des Plaines, IL and before that he was sales executive with Binney & Smith (Crayola). We send our most sincere condolences to Fred’s son Brock and the entire Merck family.
Some of you old timers will remember the name Lindley Scarlet. Lindley headed the art division at Faber-Castell in the early 1990’s. When Sanford took over he disappeared from our view. It turns out that he took a job with America’s top flag maker, a company called Annin. He was recently featured in a patriotic editorial in the New York Times. Here’ a link to the article: New York Times on Lindley Scarlet
Any celebrity watchers among you may have caught this Lindsay Lohan story and photo with a dateline of July 9th, 2010. It appears that legally challenged Ms. Lohan, who is on her way to a 90 day jail term for probation violations, has an artistic side. She was snapped buying art materials at Blick’s store in Los Angeles. Impressive brush selection, DB! Here is the link to Gawker.com\’s photo. Check out the reader comments, some are hilarious!
DunnhumbyUSA has promoted Chief Operating Officer Stuart Aitken to CEO. Stuart had previously been chief marketing officer for arts and craft retailer Michaels Stores Inc. Dunnhumby’s specializes in consumer research for mass retailers intended to strengthen their client’s connection with shoppers. Their USA operation is owned in part by the national grocery chain Kroger.
Michaels has announced that Elaine Crowley, Senior Vice President – Chief Financial Officer and Controller will resign her position effective August 6, 2010. She will have been at Michaels two years.