A stationery store owner forwarded this link to me, fuming over the fact Envelopments is including a home studio in an upcoming Martha Stewart Weddings ad, side-by-side with brick and mortar accounts. She pointedly asked why I’ve never blogged about the practice. Truth be told, I had no idea this was going on, and am equally ticked floored stunned.
Editor’s note: Although the linked page has been taken down, its contents appear in the full post below.
To the stationer who contacted me:
Like you, I have a serious problem with home studios being promoted by any vendor-—paper, gift, or otherwise. Those of you who know me from my storefront days can attest to the fact I have zero tolerance for the practice, as exemplified by my annual “conversations” with one album line in particular.
To Patrick, Mark, and Deborah:
Please don’t shoot the messenger…but know how detrimental this is to brick and mortar accounts. You’ve asked them not to carry a variety of lines that compete with Envelopments, yet you promote “businesses” (and I use the term loosely) who operate from the spare room in the basement or a kitchen table…?
To everyone:
Given the personal relationships I treasure on both sides of this debate, I’m abstaining from all direct contact (emails, phone calls, text messages, tweets, message boards, etc.) regarding the topic. The conversation needs to be transparent; if you feel moved to respond, please do so below-—anonymously or otherwise.
Editor’s note:
Several readers have contacted me to ask what was on the linked webpage in paragraph #1 since the home studio has taken down her blog post. So that no one jumps to conclusions by simply guessing (potentially turning this into a wild rumor mill), here is the original text from JustOneCupAtATime.blogspot.com:
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Excitement CUPOh my goodness oh my goodness! I’m doing the happy dance right now! I got an email from the Brand Manager at Envelopments (the main stationery line I work with) and he and their 3 designers wanted to interview me today since I’m a home studio, get my feedback, ask me a ton of questions about their new designs and releases, etc. I’ve also been trying to get them for a few months to create a community forum so they also wanted to chat with me about that – I was honored!
At the end they said……we’d like to ask if you’d be interested in being a part of one of our ads this year in the Martha Stewart Wedding magazine and we will list your company, name, etc (along with some others)……
**I realized I should clarify “be a part of one of their ads”…….it won’t be any of my designs in the ad (they typically showcase one wedding invitation and all the elements). It will be my business name/website along with other designers that carry their line since you have to go through a designer/dealer for their product.
The ellipses are the author‘s, not mine. No content has been omitted.
I have also been contacted by Envelopments, who is understandably concerned. In staying true to my vow not to get tangled in direct conversation about this, I responded by siting my sources, plus the following:
If Andrea (the home studio owner) has been dishonest in her claim she’s allowed to participate in an Envelopments ad, and if she runs a retraction on that specific blog post to that effect, I will immediately add a follow up post linking to her retraction, including a quote from Envelopments clarifying the updated information.
Likewise, if the lines addressing competitor product have been removed from the dealer agreement, please forward a copy to me for verification, and I’ll update that portion of the post to reflect the change.
Given the fact I’m directly in the line of fire between a vendor and retailers, I can’t discuss this with anyone on either side of the table without running the risk of being accused of preferential treatment. For that reason, I welcome everyone on both sides of the table to speak openly to one another via comments on the blog….
If Andrea’s blog is untrue, I’ll have egg on my face and you guys will look like heroes.
If it’s accurate, though, and Envelopments is allowing home studios to participate in national ads, the fallout is really not mine to bear.
This is a fine line, no question, but I can’t in good conscience get tangled in anything that supports home studios.
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I am sorry to see this practice spilling over to the stationery trade. Similar actions have taken place in the linens and homestyle trades and while particular vendors withhold a line if a store carries what they consider to be their “competition”, they have no problems selling their line to the retailer’s competition. Oftentimes they sell to accounts that are more dubious than a cat with 5 legs. The upshot for a few of them is that they are now suffering the consequences. When they come back offering “super-deals” the rebuffed retailers have already found good quality alternatives and are in the position of “returning the favor”. The real long range scenario is that these same vendors who were so short-sighted a few months or years ago are now in serious financial difficulties and are being sold out to the highest bidders. The provberbial “you know what” is just about to hit the fan and hopefully the remaining vendors, no matter what their particular area of concentration, will see the lesson to be learned and will adjust accordingly. Until then……….markets are more important than ever! And every new vendor no matter how small can only benefit all the more from these lessons. There is always a retailer looking for new talent, new product, and new associations with like-minded artists and vendors. Strike while the iron is hot! Make the most of that annual blockbuster show in May. I wish you all the best!
I can hardly believe my eyes. Those of us who helped build Envelopments into what it is today had to endure home studios and discounting whether we liked it or not. Now they’re going to help advertise them? This is completely unacceptable and certainly changes my approach to the May show. I hope this home studio who’s so proud to be an Envelopments account is a big producer for them to justify how many stores are going to think twice about the company now.
I know times are tough but companies don’t need to sell storefronts down the river. It’s bad enough that they let someone working from their home open an account. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
My business partner just looked at doitwithmoreoptions.com. They seem a lot like Envelopments and were at the stationery show last year. We’ll be asking what their policies are for sure.
Usually a vendor asks for co-op ad dollars to participate in an ad in a magazine like MS Weddings. I’m wondering if that is the case here?
I’d also like to say that some of my VERY top accounts are home based and don’t discount. I think it is a real, viable and sometimes quite powerful way to sell (esp. from albums) and it’s not necessarily an awful thing in every situation.
Those of you who logged in to read comments earlier today will notice the one posted by B.Wary giving Do It With More Options a negative review no longer appears. After receiving a second post from the individual that included information regarding DIWMO domain registration-—something few retailers would think to check-—I did some checking of my own.
I’m sorry to report that both comments were written by staff member at Envelopments, first from home, then from the Envelopments offices (as confirmed through static IP addresses). Neither comment disclosed the affiliation.
To that individual: If you want to submit information about a competitor under your real name, I’ll approve the comment. This blog post cannot be used as a vehicle to divert attention to one of your competitors’ practices without first addressing the topic at hand-—Envelopments’ advertising policy regarding home studios.
Note: Specific IP addresses removed from this update at Envelopments’ request
I am absolutely stunned to read this post Cinda! Why would anyone want to even consider doing business with a company that is at best “misleading” and in truth, just plain dishonest. I would think that there are many more companies with which to do business that have standards that leave this particular company out in the cold. This makes me wonder what else they have been doing that we don’t even know about yet.
I was always under the impression that ANYONE could advertise with Envelopments, as long as you PAID. I can guarantee you I work just as many hours, if not more, to make my business run in a global internet market that has a heck of a lot more competition than a brick and mortar. If your issue is over the non-compete clause then take that up with Envelopments, however you signed your agreement knowing this was part of it. There are many companies who do this. If you don’t like it, take your business elsewhere. There are more options. Is is a good practice? Doubtful. But it’s not the fault of home business/studios etc. We still have to make our minimums for the year, pay the same studio fees and don’t have the luxury of having a storefront in which we can display our work.
@ Anon
I’m not sure what makes you think we storefronts don’t face the same global internet competition you do. In fact, I’d venture a guess it hits us harder since customers view pricing and designs and all sorts of discount offers for basement businesses on their computer without having to step out their front door.
I don’t see anything in these posts about non-compete clauses or “PAID” or unpaid advertising. The conversation is about WHO is included in these ads. (You did hit one nail on the head when admitting it’s doubtful the company’s current practice is a wise one.)
Don’t get me started on expenses. I’ll trade my overhead with you any day. Rent, CAM, commercial insurance, water rebills, commercial property taxes, an electric bill that lights a 3,000 square foot space, HVAC upkeep, parking lot lease, etc.
That’s in addition to what I pay for at home, not in place of it.
Signed,
Proud to be a Professional Storefront Retailer
The non-compete clause issue was in other blog post here. I’m not saying stores don’t face internet competition, but you also have something we don’t. A storefront. The ability to have a customer walk by your store, look at your window and decide to enter. For me, I have to constantly research to figure out how to get my website above everyone else’s. I have no windows. No foot traffic. Visibility for me is a heck of a lot tougher. Nor do I have multiple lines and streams of income. This is all I do.
The fact is yes, there are ups and down to each situation. Personally, I’m not in an area that can support a stationery store. But I don’t work in my basement, I don’t deep discount (in fact, I really don’t offer discounts at all), and my office was built for my business. MY problem with this post and the others on the same subject is that there’s this assumption that because I work out of my home I’m some how not good enough to advertise with the rest of the stores. It’s a paid advertisement. She has to pay just as much for that as everyone else in that ad. What difference does it make whether she works from her home or not?
I resent the implication that I’m somehow less “professional” because I don’t choose to work from a 3,000-square-foot storefront. And yes, that is a choice – it in no way makes you superior to people who offer the same level of service and breadth of selection (not to mention quality) while minimizing their overhead. I don’t discount, because I believe the products I sell are worth what I charge for them. If you have issue with discounters, fine – so do I. But don’t lump every home-based business into the same group because you feel threatened by them.
Just to be clear, any mention of non-compete clauses in the Always Upward blog are completely unrelated to Envelopments.
“To Patrick, Mark, and Deborah:
Please don’t shoot the messenger…but know how detrimental this is to brick and mortar accounts. You’ve asked them not to carry a variety of lines that compete with Envelopments….”
I guess my real problem with this, is that your business is about supporting other businesses. But clearly, you only support some businesses. Which is a shame, really. In this economy, we all could use support.
It is really interesting to me that you, Cinda, are taking on the roll as judge and jury. I’m not quite sure why this is really a topic of discussion. Envelopments is free to advertise how they see fit and if that includes home based businesses (who pay the same fees for an account as a retail store) then so be it. What does that take away from the retail store, really?
I am assuming then that you and everyone else on here don’t support independent designers like those found on Etsy? You only shop at big box stores? Many of those independent designers work from home so in your eyes they are not legitimate? Many of them have been featured in articles and ads in major publications, featured in segments on shows such as Martha Stewart and Rachel Ray. The rest of the country is embracing the cottage industry and I am not sure what the big fuss is. And I am not sure why you, Cinda, feel as though you are the one to both publicly humiliate this one gal or to contact Envelopments on behalf of the rest of us.
And just for full disclosure, I started as a home based business and saved until I was able to rent a storefront. I have used Envelopements during both phases of my business.
Cinda did not pretend to be judge and jury. She linked to something that was posted elsewhere online, clearly stated that the brief opinion following that link was her own, then asked the vendor to respond to the question. That’s called journalism, and she did it with a lot less personal input than most people would have. I commend her for that.
Cinda is entitled to an opinion and has made it clear everyone else is too. She made hers clear by stating it as HER OPINION.
You accuse her of humiliating “this one gal” who wrote the fake comments that didn’t disclose she was actually and Envelopments employee, and you defend that as acceptable? Cinda says her opinion in the open, with her name signed to it, but someone else can be negative about a completely different company (using Cinda’s blog to do so) and that’s somehow okay? That’s quite a double standard.
Cinda, thank you for bringing the news of what is happening in our industry to those of us who don’t have the time or the internet savvy to troll the web, respond to emails, follow leads, travel all over the country, talk to vendors, and search for better ways to survive in retail. Your commitment and willingness to be the messenger even when short sighted people feel like shooting you down is appreciated. Keep up the good work!
@ Claire:
I not only shop in independent retail stores, but also travel around the country speaking to and consulting for them, focused on helping them grow their business. Please see the “About” page for a more information.
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