Once upon a time we used to have two wholesale stained glass suppliers. Ah, the good old days. When the free market and competition kept everyone on their toes. If you didn't find the stock at one, the other most likely had it. Price too high? Try the competition. Seldom could you not get the items your customers wanted. And at a fair market price too. Ah, just brings a tear to my eye reminiscing about those days...
Today, we have a totally different scenario. We now have only one supplier (they bought the competition), and they actually said "This is particularly exciting because of the benefits it brings to the industry".
Yes folks, I can't make this stuff up- they really said that!
Reading from a letter received from them, they assured us that now they'll have "Improved product selection", "Better pricing", and my personal favourite- "Improved inventory management: Maintaining increased inventory levels to meet the new volume of sales, will decrease stock-outs".
Our craft is made up from glass and foil/lead.
Today, we went to get some glass- out of the 272' we needed desperately (we wanted more), we got 5.7'.
Today we wanted to get 300+ rolls of foil. We got 10.
We did get two boxes of lead though- too bad we don't have any glass to put into them...
P.S. if you're in the industry and just as frustrated as we are (or not), tell us- drop us a comment (please! I've heard enough from Gary Brown!).
If you're one of the hundreds of our customers who have been affected by this, make a comment (Please! Remember, it's the Gary Brown thingy).
This blog encourages comments and/or critiques, all unedited for content.
Of course your comments can be done anonymously (to all).
10 comments:
Boy, you sure do tell it like it is Honey! I'm totally with you- miss the good old days of Bill and Bob. Two entrepreneurs who still cared about this industry, unlike the rapists we have in place today.
Bonnie
The b@#$% who now owns our only stained glass supplier, I can see him totally bleeding this industry, putting I don't know how many hard working people out of business, and I hate to say this Mike, but leaving only you as the last standing retailer.
Anonimus
Taking off my usual wise-acre hat and putting on my business hat (hey, I have run a successful software business for 25 years, don't you know...)
Mike, have you ever considered becoming a first-tier distributor yourself? You, obviously, have a pretty solid grasp of the Canadian glass business, you've got the contacts in the trade, and, more importantly, you have the good will of a LOT of people. Considering that Canada has two distinct trading zones, Vancouver and Everything East of Windsor, Toronto is a good shipping point to the eastern commercial zone.
The downsides? Of course you would become the target for the slings & arrows of customers should you not be able to meet the needs of the second-tier shops. And, there is always that risk of having a large quantity of stock on hand for something or other that Just Doesn't Sell. Then again, that's a risk with any business. As a major distributor, the amount of money sitting in inventory is greater, though.
Talking with my local distributor, I know that the art glass business, fused and stained both, is going through transition. There are always risks associated with change. But of course, with risks there are always opportunities.
As always,
With regards,
Gary
Gary Brown,
I hardly recognized you, acting all serious and adult like!
Very nice of you to reach out today, and I would look forward to the opportunity to meet you.
On to your business suggestions:
You do make some valid points. If I were 20 years younger I would probably do as you suggest. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch as we've always skirted the edges of distributorship/wholesale anyway (see our relationship with Bullseye as an example). But after 25 years (starting our 26th yesterday actually) I'm comfortable where I am right now.
My editorializing on the poor supply/pricing situation here in Canada is one that disturbs me, not so much personally, but moreso from a glass lover's point of view. You see, I recognize that a strong and healthy supply chain can only help our craft by encouraging healthy competition, raising the quality and quantity of all those involved and growing the business, benefiting everyone. It was that thriving climate I entered 25 years ago that gave me access to some many potential customers, and drove me to excel with so many competitors to keep me on my toes.
We already teach classes four nights and three days a week from September to June, with seminars on most Saturdays. We are absolutely full to capacity (and our classroom of 2400 square feet is utilized to the max- with an average class size of 15)- we need more competition to get more people exposed to glass be it stained or fused, to feed more students into the supply chain. We need more people to get excited enough through classes to make this their vocation, for them to grow the business, get more people excited, and so on...
I fear that our wholesaler is only interested in maximizing profit on the short term, right now with no view to this industry's future.
Going back to this supply/pricing issue- while it is a big problem for our industry, it is not so much a big one for us anymore. Because of our size, we steer a more independant course than our competitors. Our dependance upon our one and only Canadian stained glass supplier is significantly less than our competition, so we are affected less so- it is not a hardship for us to make sizeable purchases from the States and bring truckloads in. I don't want to come off sounding too cocky, but we are a fairly successful emporium- the largest in Canada, and as such, our buying power allows us to be less affected by the inadequacies of our Canadian supplier, than our competition.
Thanks again for writing Gary. We would love to open our home and hospitality to you should you make it up here in your little girly-man car (hey- you thought I could actually write an email without making some sort of dig at our lovable GB?). We are away from August 9 to Sept.2, but any other times would work)
Mikey
It seems that your blog gets lots of interest, but comments come particularly fast and furious when you have your rants (having read previous posts). I see a deep rooted hatred and level of frustration in this industry and it all seems to be directed in the correct direction given my own experiences. I hope you will continue to speak for those of us who cannot, and I invite EVERYONE IN THE BUSINESS to get more active to try and rectify the pathetic shape of our supply business. Drop a note here, vent, yell. I think Mike deserves our support- competitor or not, he does speak for the overall well being of this industry. Let him know, and through hime let H know too!
Why don't you just go with Ed Hoy International ? Or Sunshine Glass
in Buffalo ? or Rainbow Art Glass
in New Jersey ?
And how can Hollander Canada stay in business ?
Manufacturer
Thanks for the comment, and if you read my response to GB above, that's exactly what we do.
But that's not the problem as stock outages and expensive Canadian sourced inventory does not affect us greatly as we are able to bypass the Canadian supplier easily. It is for smaller shops and studios that this is a problem.
Mikey
If you are a fuser, then the most generous site on the world wide web is without a doubt Brad Walker's warmglass.com- it's one that Mike has actively promoted with signage and discussion in the store everytime I'm in. It seems that the bulletin board there has picked up on the latest blog entries from Mikey. If you've never been to warmglass.com, go there now! And if you want to see what everyone else saying about our terrible canadian situation then go here-
http://www.warmglass.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=30075
Gee, I wonder how WarmGlass found out about this discussion string? Naw... just a coincidence.
GcB
Hey Mike!
Hell - I remember you having all kinds of issues with OOCSGS back in the 70's. Why don't you buy them out!!?? Seem's to me that if you want a job done right etc etc etc.
Me, I'm out of it now - having a great time being a retired old fart.
Loving living in Campbellford.
Anne Lintonowiczw
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