Appropriate Product???

My partner and I were talking last night about the state of the industry. Nothing new for us. As retailers, we always feel the need to be up on the latest happenings. As we talked about the store and the changes we were planning, we had to admit that things had changed drastically over the last few years. So much so that we honestly believed a lot of the change in customer sales was more to blame on lack of appropriate products than on the economy (or pretty much any other reason we'd be arguing about for the last few months). Appropriate product -- it sounds so strange, I know. But the truth it, my customer base is not what I'd consider abnormal. In fact, I think they're pretty darn normal. Yet I find it increasingly difficult to find product out there that will please them or meet their needs.

Over the last couple of years, the product selection, despite being from countless manufacturers, has pretty much been the same bland offering. And worse, it all looks the same. Basic Grey looks like Cosmo Cricket and Cosmo Cricket looks like Crate Paper; KI Memories looks like Dude Designs and Dude Designs looks like . . . I'll spare you the details as I really could go on ad nauseum, but it's really sickening to think that my customers basic needs -- photo meet paper -- can't be met even though I have well over two hundred different manufacturers to choose from.

Want to know the biggest sellers in my store? Karen Foster Designs, Creative Imaginations and Masterpiece Studios. Why? Because if there's a need, i.e. slumber party, baby's first haircut, or a specific sport, one of the three (if not all of them) have something to offer. Throw a bit of K & Company and EK Success and you have a wonderland for the scrap-with-themed paper and embellishments scrapbooker. And while most people on 2peas and Scrapsmack insist that they prefer patterned paper such as Chatterbox and Basic Grey and even some of the more eclectic offering such as Dreamstreet and Bampop, they really don't make much of a dent in my daily totals. In fact, in comparison, I find that I sell 5 times more Karen Foster than I do Basic Grey. And I sell 8 times more EK Success embellishments than I do embellishments from Heidi Swapp, Maya Road, Chatterbox, American Crafts, Bazzill and 7 Gypsies combined!

Then why are so many companies insisting on spending thousands of dollars to attend a show and promote product that fits the needs of only a handful of their market? And most importantly, why do they insist on cranking out 48 to over 200 skus (items) of said product when they could easily release half that amount and devote at least some of it to the tried-and-true themed market.

As a retailer, I have to say, my disappointment level has grown with each trade show and the Summer CHA was really the last straw for me. I have a hard enough time getting people to purchase these days -- with the withering economy and ever-tightening scrapbook budgets, not to mention people using their burgeoning stash -- without having to worry about not having enough quality product to choose from. My store has to maintain a certain level of inventory but I refuse to stock it with butt-ugly product, or worse, product that will grow stale on the shelves, not move and have to be clearanced at 60% to 70% off.

So tell me, what kind of scrapbooker are you and what kind of product would you like to see? Are all the sneak peeks really revving your motor? Are you even looking forward to the next trade show (Memory Trends) or are you just reverting back to your scrapbook stash because it looks a hell of a lot better than the current offering on the market??? Inquiring minds want to know.

A Glut of Tools

Have you seen this thing? It's called the EK Cutterfly and it's a real insult to my intelligence. You see, this tells me exactly what EK thinks of me as a customer.

Now, as a retailer (a bit of my anonymity just went flying out the window), I've watched a glut of tools come onto the market in the last few years, some are pretty good, but many more are not worth the investment. This would be one of them.

Here's what the package says: "This craft & scrapbooking utility tool is ideal for the crafter on the go. Featuring 11 tools in one! - Spring action scissors - Cut rotary blades - Distress tool - Paper piercer - Spring action needle nose pliers - Retracting ruler - Tweezers - Emboss stylus - Keychain - Rub-on tool - Screwdriver."

Uh, not really. First of all, the thing should be classified as a legal weapon. It's the most dangerous tool I've ever sold. Locking it in place is about the diciest thing you'll ever do, and keeping it in place is even harder. The spring-action scissors are tiny and unless you're only interested in cutting small items even smaller, they're not worth the time. I could go on and on about it, breaking it down bit by bit, but frankly, the tool is not worth my time. BUT, and this is a big but, this tool is representative, and may even be the Grand Poobah, of tools that suck. Manufacturers crank them out with such high hopes, thinking they can sucker enough customers into making it profitable for them; thankfully, in the scrapbooking industry, news spreads fast, and bad news spreads even faster.

In fact, EK, while an amazing company in and of itself, has introduced a LOT of crappy tools over the years -- circle scissors, the empunchlar, the empressor, and oh, the very worst of them all, the inscriblio. While I don't have a bone to pick with just EK, I am amazed at the quality of the tools they've introduced to the public. Their Paper Shapers punches are an incredible product, easy to use, great to work with, so why can't more of their tools be of such high calibre?

Lest you think it's just EK I'm picking on, there have been a ton of tools introduced to market that have never lived up to the hype -- Basic Grey, Provo Craft, Making Memories, the list really does go on and on.

So, to save our fellow scrapbookers a bit of dough, tell us about the tools you pinned your hopes on and never got your dimes worth. And most of all, if you found a way to get around the kinks and get the darn things working better, share. Cause I've got a cabinet full of tools I'd love to get more use out of!

Patterned Paper -- The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I will spend a bit of time trying to rearrange everything this week, but for now, tell me everything you can about patterned paper. For me, I hate BIG patterns. I'm so sick of the flower that's 3/4 the size of a 12x12 pp -- what the hell am I supposed to do with that? Basic Grey is the biggest offender. While I love to look at BG, I have the hardest time using it, and frankly, despite being an intermediate/advanced scrapbooker, it makes me feel stupid. I don't dig stupid.

Tinkering Ink is another company I find hard to work with. The colors are so freaking garish that you can't find any picture to mix with any of them. I always have to resort to changing my picture to black and white just to use the paper. And yeah, I admit, I bought a bunch of it -- it looked great in the store.

Chatterbox -- oh how I miss you. The real you. The Chatterbox before you started doing what everyone else was up to, before you went to the chunky patterns and badly drawn "doodle" look. The smaller patterns of yesterday, the tiny floral prints, the thin stripes, the three or four color scheme plaids, ah, you were my favorite.

There are so many papers out there -- from simple patterns to themes to speciality papers such as mulberry and suede and velvet, and well, you get the picture. Lately, though, my favorite companies all appear to have taken a heavy dose of LSD before designing -- I mean, what the hell am I supposed to do with oddly sketched birds, owls, and satanic looking bunnies??? I try my best to make magic with them, but alas find myself really wanting to cut them into squares and give them away as a toilet paper substitute because they really look like . . . yeah, that.

So tell me what you're thinking. What kind of trends are you seeing that make your eyes cross and your stomach turn, and most importantly, tell me what you REALLY think about these companies and the stuff their churning out at rapid speed. For me, it's a small world after all, and I want my small patterned paper back, pronto!

For the love of ScrapSmack

Okay, so I admit it, I am a faithful reader. So when I read the following, I knew I was the gal for the job.

"Anonymous said...I for one, like to know the insiders' info on products and services that suck BEFORE I spend my money.
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I agree with this. It got me to thinking though, I buy as soon as I can get my hands on something new. I wish DT members would use this forum to give us the real scoop BEFORE it hits the shelves. KWIM? I've been on several teams and I would be all over that!
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Dude, I'd be all over that, too - I used to be on a couple major manufacturer DT's and one in particular gave us crappy rub-ons that didn't work. I told all my friends IRL (not online 'friends - I really don't trust them) not to waste their hard-earned $ on them. If, at the time, I had an anonymous forum like this to tell the real truth about products, I would have taken advantage of it.
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Inquiring minds want to know. This would be a great place to hear the truth about products"
August 23, 2007 7:09 PM


So help me build this blog -- one company at a time. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE PRODUCT THAT IS ABOUT TO BE RELEASED OR JUST HIT THE MARKET. If you've invested your hard earned money into a product and it didn't perform, tell us. As you post, I will do my best to organize it in a less helter skelter fashion than a bunch of random posts.

Of course, if you have something nice to say, or you absolutely can't get along without a product, let us know. At this point, any information is a good thing. Or if you feel there is something that the industry is missing, speak up. Because if this "idea" works, I have a feeling A LOT of scrapbook manufacturers will be reading this.

P.S. I am anonymous because I prefer not to get a royal smackdown. I'm doing this because I think it will make a difference. We'll see, only the future can tell if I'm right or not.