It’s Not Us,Really. It’s Them

... oops.

... guess our regular Wednesday delivery won’t be coming...

Just received the following email today from our one and only Canadian Stained Glass Supplier-

Dear Valued Client,
The Great Recession has finally caught up to us, and we are going to have to close our doors indefinitely before we re-open under new ownership.  Your business is very important to us, and we will be in touch with you again upon re-opening.
Yours sincerely,
The Team at Hollander Glass Canada

Huge news! For anyone even casually involved in stained and fused glass. 
We’ve been very alone and very outspoken about the new owners (10 years on) of our one and only Canadian stained glass supplier (hereon referred to as OOCSGS) and their effect on our industry, one that Mikey (and his peers) saw as extremely negative. So, let’s take a look at this a little closer and see what this means to our chosen artform...

The questions that immediately come to mind are;

1) Is this a bad thing?

2) How will this affect resellers of supplies? 

3) How about those in the business making finished goods?

4) How will this affect you, our customer in getting supplies?

So, let’s take them one by one;
1) A bad thing?
Absolutely not. 
Actually to the contrary. 
Mikey continues to do the Happy Dance in celebration! 
Why?
Well, for the past decade most of us have been largely dependent upon this one wholesaler, who alone ran roughshod over the industry. OOCSGS was able to do as they pleased after having bought the competition (he actually said "This is particularly exciting because of the benefits it brings to the industry").
And then with this monopoly, he proceeded to do what he felt was good for business. His or ours I can't say as litigious lawyers restrict me from saying, but read the inference. Where we once had two suppliers run by businessmen who started out as artisans, we now had one who had no awareness of, or inclination to learn about glass. Selection steadily decreased as prices substantially increased (it got so bad that we could buy supplies at retail from the U.S. cheaper than from OOCSGS at wholesale). Stock outages were consistently large in quantity and long on time. Ownership seemed totally detached and disinterested in those who provided him with his livelihood. No effort was made to meet with and learn to understand his customers (oops- he did meet me once in ten years). 

OOSCS ownership blames ‘The Great Recession’ as the cause of their failure? 
I disagree. 
Anyone that looks to the long term, offers good value, is sincere in their wish to offer support and provides selection and pricing that allows a reasonable return will always succeed.
 
OOCSGS only took from the industry and did nothing to grow it. We ordered from a catalogue that came from the previous owner, meaning their primary selling tool was one that was over a decade old. It was sheer guesswork trying to figure out what was still available and what might be new. We had no current and accurate pricelists, often having to wait until our invoices arrived to see what things actually cost. Even visiting the warehouse, the labels on the racks were from 15 years ago. Ah but we could always go to their website perhaps (another great selling tool)? Well, I guess, if you want to take a class that might have happened over a year ago, or find out what new products just came out in 2009. Sales flyers came late, were out-of-date, had no pretty pictures 'cuzz Mikey likes pictures...

We have a whole new generation of customers coming in that have no idea what Full Antiques are, or Ring Mottles, or what oleic acid is used for, or what’s a Worden Lamp kit all about, or even how wonderful Swiss Cheesed Glass is (still exclusive to FIG Inc)...
 

2) What about the retailer? While all this is significant and hurtful to the entire stained glass market, it is more so for the small retailer. This is very evident from the number of those that have closed in the past few years. The largest expense we face is carrying costs on inventory. For some of us that can be quite sizable, but necessary, allowing us to still operate successfully. Smaller stores who are unable to carry sufficient inventory suffer greatly when OOCSGS is out of stock. What’s a retailer to do if they have no glass cutters when a new class begins?

3) What about those who make their livelihood from glass?  The artisan too will suffer. While they were never a large consumer of goods, they were the lifeblood of our industry, keeping our artform in the public eye, continually educating and generating new found interest in those exposed to it, bringing more traffic to retailers to take classes, who then become customers, and heaven forbid, actually might have become customers of OOCSGS. 

4) What does this mean for you? We have always maintained a substantial inventory in size and selection, and will continue to do so. We have always bought supplies from other sources as we understood the danger of being beholden to one supplier (good or bad) and will continue to do so. Stock outages of course might be more problematic and there could be delays, but we will manage. It is the smaller retailers that will have difficulty surviving. They are less able to make sizable purchases that make bringing in truckloads of goods from the U.S. feasible.

So to conclude, in my opinion, it is a good thing that OOCSGS has closed (perhaps reopening another day under different ownership) as the present ownership’s only success was to decimate this industry over the past decade. I feel for those who now are out of a job- many like S, S, G, J, M and M, some who have close to a quarter century invested in OOCSGS. I also fear for the fallout across Canada to all those retailers, artists and craftspeople who will have a greater difficulty in securing inventory, building beautiful pieces and inspiring another generation to pick up this artform we have found so rewarding.

We miss you Bill Dick.
More to come- I have much more to share. 

And, oh yeah, in case you were wondering, sure as hell, we aren’t going anywhere!