New crafting brand launched at CreativeWorld specialising in high-quality papercraft products for cardmaking, scrapbooking and journalling and will only sell to retailers, never direct-to-consumer.
Arden Creative Studio is the newest brand in Gemporia Craft’s stable, joining Jewellery Maker, Hobby Maker and Visible Image. Launched at CreativeWorld in Frankfrut last week, Arden Creative Studio will supply papercraft products for cardmaking, scrapbooking and journalling only to retailers.
Supported by a talented cast of creatives, Arden Creative Studio will promote community crafting by supporting retailers to have more in-store events and demonstrations for customers to attend. But the biggest advantage for retailers is that Arden Creative Studio will never to sell direct to the crafter/consumer.
“It’s been a challenging time for the craft industry since Covid,” said Barry Short, sales manager for Gemporia Craft. “When lockdown occurred, the industry had a mini boom with consumers clambering to keep their hands and minds busy during the long days. Many manufacturers had an online store presence but more and more opened their websites to sell direct to crafters. While this was thought to be a good idea at the time, it was to be catastrophic for independent craft shops. Brand manufacturers obviously had much more margin to play with enabling them to reduce their prices, making it impossible for independents to compete. This in turn reduced the number of people going into shops, which then had a knock-on effect of shops not making enough to remain open. The UK lost over 150 craft shops in the 18 months directly after our lives turned back to normal.”
Craft Shops are not only places to buy products, they are sources of inspiration, confidence and advice. “Craft shops recruit new crafters into our wonderful industry,” said Hayley. “They educate through classes and demonstrations, reduce the fear of doing something wrong and in turn support mental wellbeing and raise community spirit. Crafting was always something people did together, swapping hints, tips and techniques and giving each other confidence – this is what we need to get back to.”
With this in mind, Arden Creative Studio will send its demonstrators, brand ambassadors and figureheads out into customers’ shops to run classes, demonstrations and crafting events to attract new people and fans/followers. Small collections will enable retailers to take the complete collection and elongate the lifecycle of products, with Arden Creative Studio feeding in new inspirational content regularly, covering all aspects of papercrafting to show versatility of the products.
“We hope that other manufacturers in the industry will think twice about direct sales and follow suit by supporting the very shops that have built their brands over the years,” says Hayley.
If you are interested in becoming a stockist or would like more information about the ranges and support, please visit www.ardencreativestudio.com.
