AC buys everything...what's the worry?

Where I live, the takeover of bazzill has meant white canvas and kraft is impossible to find. Even the biggest store here (6000 sqf of scrappy goodness) doesn't get their orders. So yes, I'm worried. Monopoly is rarely a good thing for customers, it usually means less choice, inferior quality and more expensive product, so I believe quality will go down, prices will go up and availability will go out the window as AC takes over more and more companies. Hopefully, some of the European manufacturers will start making cardstock and not just paper, because the quality is great (even though the paper is not my style).

I think one of the concerns of AC buying Bazzill is the quality of the product. There have been plenty of examples of quality issues with other brands under the AC umbrella. There is also the fact that AC has its own brand of cardstock so while Bazzill may complement the range AC has, this may also be a way to eliminate the competition.

AC buying out lots of smaller companies is a catch 22. While it's great that the companies are able to continue to design the products we love them for, it is a scary position when one company owns so much of the market.

Large companies can have money troubles. Just think what will happen if American Crafts runs into trouble. Lots of brands could be lost. Just because they are a large company doesn't mean that they can't run into problems.

I saw a comment from Nancy Nally on Scrapbook Update that AC card stock just couldn't compete with Bazzill and since Darice had bought Core’dinations, it was in AC's interests to have a really strong product to sell. Of course as others have said that doesn't mean they will keep Bazzill going. They might have bought it to take it out of circulation.

Applying a real life scenario:

McDonald's bought the Roy Roger's chain.  They closed every single one that was anywhere near a McDonald's.  There are relatively few Roy Roger's still open.  McDonald's bought them to get rid of the competition.

This is what I am afraid is happening (or is going to happen) to scrapping companies bought out by American Crafts, or any other company.  Have they been bought to get rid of the competition?  I can't help but wonder.

I will be delighted if I am wrong.

AC has no plans to stop producing these brands. They understand how popular Bazzill is and wanted to add a strong cardstock brand to their umbrella. During the transition, Bazzill stopped production of their papers for a number of reasons. Less product to move to Utah from Arizona, less product to have to account for when the purchase took place, etc. Now that the Bazzill brand is under AC's umbrella, production has ramped up again so you should be able to see the Kraft and White CS all over shortly.

This is the same with WeR. AC knew the WeR albums were popular and when the chance came to purchase them, they jumped on it. This is the same with WeR's tools. AC didn't have a strong tool offering, and WeR's source guy and R&D guy came along to AC so now they can make the albums WeR is famous for, and they will still be able to come up with tools that WeR is well known for.

You have to remember that AC does not go out and look for brands to purchase. Brands come to them because they want to retire, get out of the scrapbook world, get help with manufacturing and distributing so they can concentrate on design, etc.

To be honest, in the 11 years I've been open, I haven't had many problems with AC brand products. I have had WeR albums brought back because the eyelets didn't get closed well and the binder came off the covers. I did get some dry markers once, but it was taken care of with just one call to my rep.

^^This.^^
AC is not the only company to acquire other smaller companies. Advantus has also done this for years but not as many in recent years. The latest example I can think of is Cosmo Cricket which sold to them in late 2011. The designers (which owned the company) get to keep on designing but manufacturing, marketing, etc is all handled by Advantus. Yes, their product line has changed but I'm sure that the 3 of them are glad they can keep on doing what they love and make a living.
I understand everyone's concerns regarding a monopoly. But wouldn't there still be one if all of the smaller companies eventually had to close because production costs were too high? You can say that you would be willing to pay a premium price for a certain brand but just by recent history (lack of sales at 2P's) we can say that most people won't. (If I only had a nickel for everyone I saw post through the years that they never shopped there because it was too expensive.) The best of both worlds would be something like what Target does when it teams up with high-end designers and has them design collections that are exclusive to them. The consumer knows that they are getting a drop in quality and/or exclusiveness to align with the reduced price and they still have the choice to spend their money on the higher-end products if they wish.
I personally see the current situation as a "good thing". That being said, I don't like that my choices (in particular with embellishments) are all starting to look alike but it makes sense from a business standpoint due to economies of scale. It boils down to whatever you perceive as the lesser of two evils: lack of choice because only one survives or lack of choice because they all look alike. Whatever way you look at it, the current market/economy for a specialized hobby ultimately leaves the consumer paying the price.

I agree with Lisa (above).  I would rather have AC buy out a smaller company than to see it just close like 2peas. At least there is a chance of still having some of that product. I think AC has really helped out some of the struggling companies.  I think that it may take a while but we will see some of the same things we have loved from the acquired companies. 

It's been my experience with AC that their quality control is really lacking. They produce a lot in China and that could be part of it too. I think people are worried that the issues will spread to whatever company is acquired. Previously WRMK had a problem with their albums being warped, sewn wrong, and just generally of lower quality. Complaints were made and they changed it, even replaced the old albums and I *think* they brought production back to the US. But now AC owns them... It's just general concern over product you thought you knew and its possible changes.