Not Buying American Crafts Just Because...

Are you saying you aren't going to buy American Craft products anymore or just that you think they are overtaking the scrapbook world?

I hate that AC is buying up other companies, but I wouldn't stop buying those products. I just don't think it will have any impact on AC, just on the number of choices available to me.

Studio Calico isn't associated with AC now.

That's the American way. Happens in all industries.

I had no idea AC owned all of those companies! Wow!

Then she's only hurting her own business. Crate Paper is probably the best selling line on the market right now. That would really frustrate me if I were her customer. 

This is my situation as well. On the one hand, I get it, but on the other hand I shop there much less than I used to because of it.

A few more companies not connected to American Crafts:

Theresa Collins
Graphic 45
Pinkfresh Studio

Also, I don't think it's fair to say that AC took over the Amy Tangerine, Dear Lizzy, and Shimelle lines. They were AC from the beginning, not taken over later.

Simple Stories is also an independent company (not affiliated with American Crafts) and is crazy popular in my area.

Okay...some of those while "owned by" American Crafts were never owned by anyone else, they are just spin offs of their own brand. Things like Thickers, Dear Lizzy and Shimelle are collections developed by American Crafts. Other brands like Crate, Pebbles (in my pocket) and Bazzill were (probably) having financial issues and according to AC companies have been asking AC to buy them out. Would you rather the companies go away totally? Sure, I would like more variety in who owns these brands because I feel there has been a certain homogenization because they seem to share designers...

Under the AC Umbrella:
Pink Paislee
Bazzill
Pebbles (in my Pocket)
Heidi Swapp
Crate Paper
Project Life
We R Memory Keepers
Imaginscince

I don't count designer lines such as Amy Tangerine, Shimelle or Dear Lizzy ryc really because, as I said above they have always been with AC, they are simply collections by AC designed with scrap celebrities. They also developed Thickers. I do count Heidi Swapp because she has been with a lot of other companies in the past. AC did not develop HS on their own. HS came to AC at the same time as Pink Paislee because they were working together at that time.

Independent of AC: (this list is not comprehensive it is just what I could think of off the top of my head)
Prima
Tim Holtz/Ranger
October Afternoon
Carta Bella
Authentique
Graphic 45
Elle Studio
Pinkfresh Studio
Webster's Pages
Simple Stories
My Mind's Eye
Lawn Fawn
Kaisercraft
Studio Calico
Hero Arts
Echo Park
Doodlebug
Jillibean Soup
Cocoa Vanilla
Bella Blvd
K and Company
EK Success

ETA Fancy Pants

I bet those companies that AC has acquired are thrilled they were bought out rather than closed down.

The times they are a changin.

I just think it's a tough choice to have to make. Stand on your principles or risk losing your business. I'm sure this wasn't a decision the store owner made lightly.



The person upthread who said their store wasn't ordering anymore said it was due to broken promises and sending product other places first by AC. So say you spend 50% of your cardstock budget on Bazzill. You order from AC, they tell you when it will come in. Your customers start asking about it because you're low or have run out of colors, so you tell them when it will be in. AC doesn't ship it to you, so you then have broken a promise to your customers as well. Yes, you tell them it was supposed to be there such date, but the majority of customers are just going to remember that you didn't have it. Your shelves are now half empty because you're waiting on product; meanwhile your customers are seeing it and buying it elsewhere. Do they believe you? "Other places have it, were they just lying to me and didn't order enough?" Or, in order not to break promises, you tell them it's on order, and then it takes forever to show. Again, do they believe you or think you didn't place an order?



So instead of spending 50% of your budget on AC, you spend 100% of it on companies that you can rely on, companies that ship you product when they say they will, and try to keep the non-monopolies in business. We all know that there are as many crafters who read nothing online as there are that do (if everyone did, Studio Calico would be out of business or make good changes), so there are a ton of crafters who have no idea what Bazzill is compared to other cardstocks and buy what you have.



So what's your choice? Spend the money and have half the product there so you can't sell it anyway, or spend the money, have the product there, and hope people buy it? If AC isn't sending the product, you can't sell it; your customers are going to buy it elsewhere, so that is also contributing to the store closing.



Like I said, what a tough choice to make. Knowing what a huge profit Bazzill is, I doubt the stores made the decision due to one or two bad experiences. So, keep throwing money at something that isn't working for them, or try something different and know that if your business failed that you could stand by what you did.



I'm not saying either is the best choice. I'm just looking at that multiple page Studio Calico thread and all the people that have had bad experiences with them, the talk of rate hikes and thinning or missing kits and closed threads and unanswered questions and changes days after cancellation deadlines. If even half their clientele stood up and said they won't be screwed by SC anymore, maybe that would cause them to change, maybe it would cause them to close, but that doesn't make how they treat their customers right. If they did close it would be due to poor business practices. And maybe that's what not selling AC is, but at least the store owners are taking a stand for what's right, not just not caring like SC is. It all starts with one step, whether it's by yourself and you can live with your own conscience, or people step in behind you and make change.

impearia, thanks for the info; I'm bookmarking this for reference.

Where was it that shipping cost that much??

I am sure Scrapbooks Etc. was happy when AC bought the Bazzill division of their company.
I am grateful that AC has bought up so many smaller companies that may have gone out of business.. I wish they had bought Basic Grey, then they might still be making scrapbook paper....