2015 - A year of growth

Some changes were very obvious, like the addition of our planner kit, the evolution of our stationery kit and our new website launch (all within a few months of each other). Revamping our Rewards program, simplifying the Reveal process and making positive policy changes to support our community were rolled out as well.

You may or may not have noticed some of the other, more subtle changes. We carefully scrutinized our inventory orders to have enough product, built out more capacity in our warehouse and implemented a more capable accounting software.

Still, there were also changes which seemed sad, like our partnership with Becky Higgins ending and recently we announced we would not continue to partner with American Crafts on our wholesale collections. These, while they may seem like somber indicators of our business, were, in actuality, just the end of contracts. We thoroughly enjoyed our relationships with both of these companies and in both cases are parting ways as friends. It was simply time to move on to something else.

It’s a lot of change in one year. I know this. As a customer, I’m sure you have been reeling from new information around every corner. I know our team has learned something vital from each change, especially about how to effectively communicate it to our loyal community. As a result of all your feedback this year we’ve learned many things and even revisited some of our changes to make them work better for you. You’ve stuck with us this year and I know I speak for our team when I say we’re extremely grateful.

What’s next? I’m happy to say in 2016 we are committed to serving our loyal customers by delivering inspiration which pushes you creatively and inspires you to make. We will find new ways while continuing to perfect the old. I can’t promise we won’t see a few bumps here and there, but I can promise we will always listen and challenge our team to find solutions which best work for you. Thank you again for being a member of our amazing community in 2015. We look forward to another wonderful year.

Sincerely,

April Foster

CEO, Studio Calico

We put together a little Q&A which we’ll continue to update this week as you ask questions. Below are some of the biggest concerns we’ve seen so far about the recent American Crafts announcement. If you have a question which you feel the community would benefit from, please put it in the comments.

What is happening to SevenPaper?

Unfortunately, this is the end for SevenPaper. I know some of you are upset about that. Stores will continue to sell through their inventory as American Crafts depletes the remainder of what they have in stock.

Will Studio Calico ever do wholesale again?

This doesn't mean you won't ever see any of our products in stores in the future, we're just going to take a break until the time is right to go back into stores. As some of you mentioned, we've been growing quite a bit and one thing I think we have all learned in 2015 is that no one benefits (especially you guys) from us taking on too much at once!

Yes, we can manufacture things in house now. That is definitely being considered, and we will be at CHA to talk with prospective buyers. We need to make sure we carefully take on projects as we move forward because we want to make sure they are the right decision. Ultimately that is what will have us here serving you for many years to come, smart business decisions.

What does this mean for Studio Calico / SevenPaper albums and page protectors?

In the immediate future, if you want to stock up on page protectors for Seven Paper albums, I don't blame you. They will be available in our online shop and other retailers until stock sells out.

We'll continue to release products online for Studio Calico (ahem, Color Theory albums will be available here very soon and we will continue to support this line for the foreseeable future. They are a product at the core of memory keeping and one that we are very passionate about).

Will this affect Studio Calico kits?

No. We will continue to design and produce exclusive products as well as source other products for the monthly kit subscriptions.