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#21
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Glassman wrote: This is just the latest fad to attempt to hang on. I speak to 50-100 retailers every week. Most are hurting big time. Fusing is small time compared to what we used to do. We used to make lamps, windows, sell tools & supplies. Kiln work is just another passing thingie that will dry up as well. Especially when boatloads of beads & jewelry come over from China for .10 each. Start looking for the next trend Dennis. Yep, kilnforming and lampworking too... mark his words, these passing fads are sure to die out in another 5-10 years. -- -Kalera http://www.beadwife.com |
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#22
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maybe HL carries spectrums OOPS glass or "T" glass? that's the end of run,
color not quite right, too many seeds or grit in the glass? I have been getting some really sucky spectrum from my suppliers that has pebbles in it (which of course you don't see until you've finished an entire panel....) and it isn't labeled as T but should be!!! I think spectrum's quality control ain't what it used to be ...m "Kitty" wrote in message ... wrote in message oups.com... Hobby Lobby carries Spectrum and not Chinese glass. They buy direct from Spectrum and have it chipped to a central warehouse where it's cut up and shipped out to about 350 stores. They also carry Rack Packs from Spectrum which is also divided up and put into stock. Two companies that manufacture glass in China are Armstrong and Houston's Gecko glass along with several companies that manufacture clear textures. None of which Hobby lobby carries. well I beg to differ. If you check the glass at the Conyers store you will find second rate glass that's so crappy Spectrum wouldn't even admit to making it! I know Spectrum and that aint it. Kitty |
#23
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"Kalera Stratton" wrote in message ... Yep, kilnforming and lampworking too... mark his words, these passing fads are sure to die out in another 5-10 years. -- How was that constructive or beneficial to the conversation? You complain about others until you find out it can be venting, then you DO what you complain about. Just to make this interesting, do you realize that the making of beads is just as cyclical as anything else. Hell, those beads go back a long way in time and they have not always been popular. People "rediscover", that is the buying public rediscovers, and in this age, the video media sure goes a long way toward helping them. What would you do if everyone, rephrase that, make it "nearly" everyone, stopped buying beads made by you, but kept buying the stuff in the local college bead shop, you know , the places stocked with the cheap imports. Now imagine the passing fancy of the public has attached itself to something else, like polymer clay. Enough so that even the cheap bead shop can't stay open, (happened not far from me, for real) what are you going to do? You are a bead artist, how do you pay your bills? Sure there is some interest, but not enough to justify your expense. What do you do? I made my first bead in 1984, fused my first plate in 1984, bent lamp panels starting in 1982, don't be snide in your remarks, fusing and lampworking is subject to the same cycles as anything else. It isn't that there will be "no one " interested, just not enough to keep the doors open. AND while we are at it, do you have a storefront that you are paying the tab for with your beads? Or are you a basement bandit? Working out of your home? only have one "set" of bills to pay? I would keep the snide remarks to myself unless you can step up to the plate in the same "even playing field". And if I had a line of giftware boats were doing all that great, I wouldn't spin my wheels selling supplies and teaching classes unless it were to supplement my income. I just know the profit margin is really big on glass and supplies. That last line was a joke. |
#24
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"Javahut" wrote in message ... "Kalera Stratton" wrote in message ... AND while we are at it, do you have a storefront that you are paying the tab for with your beads? Or are you a basement bandit? Working out of your home? only have one "set" of bills to pay? I would keep the snide remarks to myself unless you can step up to the plate in the same "even playing field". I'm betting on a long-suffering ex-husband paying child support to subsidize this "artist". And it's hard to be a "basement bandit" when you live in a double wide. |
#25
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"Kalera Stratton" wrote in message ... Glassman wrote: This is just the latest fad to attempt to hang on. I speak to 50-100 retailers every week. Most are hurting big time. Fusing is small time compared to what we used to do. We used to make lamps, windows, sell tools & supplies. Kiln work is just another passing thingie that will dry up as well. Especially when boatloads of beads & jewelry come over from China for .10 each. Start looking for the next trend Dennis. Yep, kilnforming and lampworking too... mark his words, these passing fads are sure to die out in another 5-10 years. -- -Kalera Don't take this the wrong way, but please check in with us in a couple of years, and let us know if you are still supporting your family with this art. Any second now there will be a boatload of stuff from China for a few pennies each selling at your local Staples. -- JK Sinrod Sinrod Stained Glass Studios www.sinrodstudios.com Coney Island Memories www.sinrodstudios.com/coneymemories |
#26
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"Michele Blank" wrote in message ... Here's my input. I have quit doing supplies completely, no lessons, just shows and commissions. My prices have gone up in keeping with cost of materials. i find i can easily sell the more expensive, bigger pieces (because the rich folk still have the dough) but smaller items won't move at prices that reflect current materials cost ( competition from Chinese imports??) So, i am doing more expensive things and still making a living but i have had to reduce overhead to the point of creating my studio in my Excellent point. I agree that the folks with money don't know or care about the state of the economy. Don't get me wrong about my doom & gloom posts. I am doing fine, but my concerns were for the entire industry. Plenty of small shops can't sell high end stuff. I'm shocked to say that I'm getting as much as $250 a sq/ft for commission work, and my work is nothing special. The real money is in the repairs. Almost 100% profit for as little as a few minutes. I'm a veteran and always find a way to get back up and take more abuse in this business. I'm just not doing much retail anymore. -- JK Sinrod Sinrod Stained Glass Studios www.sinrodstudios.com Coney Island Memories www.sinrodstudios.com/coneymemories |
#27
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Javahut wrote: "Kalera Stratton" wrote in message ... Yep, kilnforming and lampworking too... mark his words, these passing fads are sure to die out in another 5-10 years. -- How was that constructive or beneficial to the conversation? You complain about others until you find out it can be venting, then you DO what you complain about. Just to make this interesting, do you realize that the making of beads is just as cyclical as anything else. Hell, those beads go back a long way in time and they have not always been popular. People "rediscover", that is the buying public rediscovers, and in this age, the video media sure goes a long way toward helping them. What would you do if everyone, rephrase that, make it "nearly" everyone, stopped buying beads made by you, but kept buying the stuff in the local college bead shop, you know , the places stocked with the cheap imports. Now imagine the passing fancy of the public has attached itself to something else, like polymer clay. Enough so that even the cheap bead shop can't stay open, (happened not far from me, for real) what are you going to do? You are a bead artist, how do you pay your bills? Sure there is some interest, but not enough to justify your expense. What do you do? I made my first bead in 1984, fused my first plate in 1984, bent lamp panels starting in 1982, don't be snide in your remarks, fusing and lampworking is subject to the same cycles as anything else. It isn't that there will be "no one " interested, just not enough to keep the doors open. AND while we are at it, do you have a storefront that you are paying the tab for with your beads? Or are you a basement bandit? Working out of your home? only have one "set" of bills to pay? I would keep the snide remarks to myself unless you can step up to the plate in the same "even playing field". And if I had a line of giftware boats were doing all that great, I wouldn't spin my wheels selling supplies and teaching classes unless it were to supplement my income. I just know the profit margin is really big on glass and supplies. That last line was a joke. Yeah, you have me there; it was a snide comment, and uncalled-for. I was simply a bit taken aback by the sweeping decree that kilnforming is a "passing fad". Of course it will prove to be cyclical; everything under the sun is cyclical. I don't have a storefront other than on the web, and I do supplement my beadmaking income by selling supplies (which are indeed stored in my basement). I have one full-time employee who is paid for essentially from my supply line profits. Naturally, I hope that after the initial flush of new lampworkers (and we are still in the initial flush, even after fifteen years or so of this current revival) dies down, there will still be enough buyers around and I will be established enough to continue to make a living at this; I may, and I may not. There are already cheap and reasonably good Chinese and Indian lampwork beads available on eBay and at the local stores, but that hasn't put a dent in my business... yet. I'm not failing to sympathize with the stained glass retailer (as I hope my earlier post made clear) I was simply expressing my bemusement at the relegation of warm glass to "flash in the pan" status. -- -Kalera http://www.beadwife.com |
#28
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Moonraker wrote: I'm betting on a long-suffering ex-husband paying child support to subsidize this "artist". And it's hard to be a "basement bandit" when you live in a double wide. Forgot to take your meds again? My ex pays me $82/month in child support, which I usually decline to collect because he's broke all the time. I purchased one house when single and kept it as a rental when I remarried and we bought this bungalow... with my cash for a down payment, as my sweetie wasn't very liquid. Although my business expenses run about $40,000/yr, I still net above median income for my area... that's on the beads alone, the supply line is not profitable, it just pays for my employee, & is picking up just enough that I need to hire another. -- -Kalera http://www.beadwife.com |
#29
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Glassman wrote: "Kalera Stratton" wrote in message ... Glassman wrote: This is just the latest fad to attempt to hang on. I speak to 50-100 retailers every week. Most are hurting big time. Fusing is small time compared to what we used to do. We used to make lamps, windows, sell tools & supplies. Kiln work is just another passing thingie that will dry up as well. Especially when boatloads of beads & jewelry come over from China for .10 each. Start looking for the next trend Dennis. Yep, kilnforming and lampworking too... mark his words, these passing fads are sure to die out in another 5-10 years. -- -Kalera Don't take this the wrong way, but please check in with us in a couple of years, and let us know if you are still supporting your family with this art. Any second now there will be a boatload of stuff from China for a few pennies each selling at your local Staples. The stuff from China is already here; it's everywhere, at every bead show, craft show, hobby shop. Who knows how it will effect my business over the long haul... hopefully I will be able to stay different enough to be competetive. Didn't mean to sound so flippant, but I was a bit taken aback by the classification of kilnforming as "the latest fad". I'm not much of a kilnformer myself, but it's an art form that's just barely emerged, and I think has yet to even come into its own. It will eventually take a downturn, as all things do, but I think it's inaccurate to call it a fad. -- -Kalera http://www.beadwife.com |
#30
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Yeah, you have me there; it was a snide comment, and uncalled-for. I was
simply a bit taken aback by the sweeping decree that kilnforming is a "passing fad". Of course it will prove to be cyclical; everything under the sun is cyclical. I don't have a storefront other than on the web, and I do supplement my beadmaking income by selling supplies (which are indeed stored in my basement). I have one full-time employee who is paid for essentially from my supply line profits. Naturally, I hope that after the initial flush of new lampworkers (and we are still in the initial flush, even after fifteen years or so of this current revival) dies down, there will still be enough buyers around and I will be established enough to continue to make a living at this; I may, and I may not. There are already cheap and reasonably good Chinese and Indian lampwork beads available on eBay and at the local stores, but that hasn't put a dent in my business... yet. I'm not failing to sympathize with the stained glass retailer (as I hope my earlier post made clear) I was simply expressing my bemusement at the relegation of warm glass to "flash in the pan" status. The only person making "flash in the pan" comments is YOU. The topic was the retailer, as JK has a storefront operation, that is what concerns him and where all this started. All I said was what I perceive, from talking to people that had/have been in the business, stained glass supply business, for more years than I. Due to things like the internet, whose storefront does not involve the type of rents, insurance,taxes, etc that a physical building does, the cycle can not be addressed the same as it had in the past. What you "hope for" after the initial push, is what we all hope for. A niche in the business we enjoy so we can hang around a bit longer and still pay our bills. The other end of this topic is demographic, Kalera is in the northwest, Portland to be specific. Rents average what there? JK is in Lynbrook,on Long Island, NY darn close to NYC. HUGE difference in rents, and therefore expenses. Glass is a big business in Portland, like Settle, people go there looking for glass, not so at the other end of the country, in the midwest people come looking for ....cows... The whole point is that because "it" isn't what you are experiencing right now doesn't mean "it" is not happening elsewhere. In a great many stained glass stores, glass rods were introduced by their wholesalers as another medium, in glass, to add to their bottom line. Same with fused glass, it just goes further back. As fused glass was introduced it didn't gain in popularity until the last several years,but the class sizes are already changing . Not saying it will die, just numbers will reduce below which it may be difficult for the same businesses to stay around. |
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