Baby time in the industry!
Welcome to the world Emma Jean, new born to Elizabeth and Seth Martin of Hyatt’s. Emma Jean is also the first grandchild for Greg and Lynn Hyatt. She was born on May 9th at 6:14 p.m. in Amherst, NY and was 7 lbs. 9 oz.
And a hearty and healthy shout out to Jill and Lionel Flax on the birth of their son William Alexander at 8 lbs. 4 oz., on July 11th. Congratulations, too, to William’s grandfather industry pioneer Leonard Flax.
Anniversary celebrations are in the air! Back in 1938 Herman Flax opened up shop in downtown San Francisco. Though initially the store’s back room was also the family’s bedroom, with $100 to invest in inventory and a used cash register, it wasn’t long before Flax’s Artists’ Materials was on its way. This year is their 75th birthday!
httpv://youtu.be/PTzEfhDfmsQ
We are sending all due congratulations to Andy, Cynthia and the entire Lenz family for the 45th anniversary of their company Lenz Art in Santa Cruz , CA. A hearty toast to the powers and strength of a well run family institution!
Big changes in Michaels merchandising department. Rich Gartmann, Business Unit General Manager for Art Materials is transitioning to a new position that will focus on driving efforts of the 2020 Vision Strategy Team. Idalia Farrajota who has joined Michaels from Hudson’s Bay Company in Canada, will take over Rich’s merchandising leadership responsibilities. In related news Stefani Sereboff has joined Michaels as Category Director (Department 81, Drawing Artist Supplies) reporting to Idalia Farrajota.
Michaels also announced it will issue $700 million in new debt to pay a dividend to its private equity shareholders, Bain Capital and The Blackstone Group, and 150-200 current and former execs who have been awarded stock options. Bain and Blackstone acquired the company in a 2006 leveraged buyout.
Alex Nielsen is resigning as President/CEO of SPC (Sierra Pacific Crafts). His last day will be Sept. 27 and the SPC board has begun a search for his replacement.
NAMTA and Craft and Hobby Association(CHA) will join forces by co-locating at NAMTA’s Art Materials World Trade Show and Conference in Pittsburgh next year(April 30 – May 2, 2014.) Both CHA and NAMTA exhibitors will occupy a portion of the exhibition space and the two associations will collaborate on an expanded series of program sessions. Additional details regarding the exhibition, registration, program sessions and other items will be announced in the coming weeks.
Dateline Glendale, CA. Swain’s Art Store was mistakenly harassed by hundreds after cops shot a dog in the town of Hawthorne in a SWAT team standoff. The police spokesman who gave the press the news happened to be named Lt. Scott Swain. Overzealous bloggers picked up the story and mistakenly put the art store of the same name at center of the far‐ranging outrage concerning the police dog shooting encounter. Somehow the bloggers connected some outraged readers to the store through its phone number and email address. The result was a deluge of angry phone calls and emails to Swain’s.
Golden Eagle Artist Supply in East Hampton, NY is closing after the summer, on September 30. On Thursday, July 4, the store shared the bad news in a Facebook announcement, explaining that the building’s landlord has leased the space to another tenant. Read the whole story here
Check out this video of a recent mural done by Element Tree featuring Montana.
httpv://vimeo.com/70314940