Date: December 19, 2005
Vol. IX, No. 24

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

COMMENTARY: We're a Complicated Industry  

As I compiled the year-end review for this issue, I concluded I need to go back to school – for years. I need to get degrees in finance and accounting to be able to accurately interpret and report the intricacies of all the mergers and acquisitions in the industry. Then I need to go to law school to learn about offshore family-trust tax havens, the Robison-Patman pricing laws, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the laws regarding illegal dumping by foreign countries and treatment of your employees. Then there's the health insurance quagmire.

Of course, by the time I learn all that, I'll be so old they'll have to lead me off to the Home for Confused Journalists.

But I bet you're confused, too. Whether you're a vendor or a retailer, our business world gets more complicated by the day. That's why, when you attend a winter trade show, I hope you take time out from buying and selling to attend some of the many business seminars which are ultimately designed to help clear up at least some of the confusion.

Then we'll muddle through another year together.

New Trade Show Exhibitors. Updated! The names, brief descriptions, and links to the websites of the new TNNA and CHA exhibitors.

"Benny Da Buyer". A frustrated retailer writes, "If manufacturers question why retailers seem less loyal these days, this might clue them in to just why." Read the entire tale of woe.

Kate's Collage. Recently CLN asked, "What ever happened to the Professional Craft Producer?" Now, some interesting answers.

Memory, Paper & Stamps. The schedule for digital imaging seminars at the CHA show.

Designing Perspectives. The CHA show schedule of events specifically for designers.

Note. To read the columns, click on the titles in the left-hand column. If you surf to a column and it's an "old" column, click the "Refresh" or "Reload" button of your browser.

Retailers responding to CLN's unscientific poll report some grim news: 9.5% said sales were up substantially compared to this time last year, but a third said sales were down substantially. The numbers reversed with milder changes from a year ago: a third reported slight increases and 9.5% reported slight decreases. Only 14.3% said sales were about the same.

What vendors have heard from their retailer customers mirrors the retailers report; 8.3% heard retail sales were up substantially, but 16.7% were told retail sales were down substantially. A slight increase was reported by 16.7% and a slight decrease by 50%. Only 8.3% said their retailers' sales were about the same.

If you haven't voted yet, click in Industry Polls in the right-hand column or click HERE.

As CLN reported in a newsbrief, the private equity firm GTCR Golder Rauner LLC entered into a definitive agreement to acquire EK Success. The transaction is expected to close Feb. 6. Other bidders, according to Dow Jones News, were greeting-card giant American Greetings and buyout firm Advent Int., recent acquirer of Making Memories.

Reporting on the sale, TheDeal.com wrote, "As part of the deal, Chicago-based buyout house GTCR is said to have secured a licensing agreement with an unidentified national crafts company. The move will allow EK Success to use the company's well-known brand name on products EK sells. A spokeswoman for EK Success declined to comment, except to say that a press statement would be released soon. GTCR also declined to comment."

The purchase is valued at about $200 million, Dow Jones reported, citing sources close to the transaction. It includes about $150 million of debt financing, consisting of a $100 million term loan, and about $50 million of second-lien debt. Dow Jones also quoted sources that claimed EK's annual revenue is roughly $125 million with $26 million in earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

GTCR principal Vince Hemmer told Dow Jones scrapbooking's annual growth rate is about 6% and that GTCR is willing to invest another $200 million, primarily through acquisitions, over the next three to five years to build the platform.

"We believe that EK is the premiere platform in the scrapbooking sector," said GTCR Principal David Donnini, "and we’re extremely enthusiastic about partnering with such an exceptional management team, led by CEO Chris Skinner. We see significant growth potential in the scrapbooking and broader craft segment."

"EK’s management team and employees are very excited about the opportunity to partner with GTCR," said EK CEO Chris Skinner. "GTCR’s financial support and experience will be invaluable as we continue to capitalize on growth opportunities in the scrapbooking and broader craft segment." Skinner joined EK Success in 1987 and became CEO in 1998.

The Chicago-based firm was founded in 1980 and currently manages $6+ billion of equity capital invested in a wide range of companies and industries. Visit www.gtcr.com. EK Success was established in 1978 by Jamil Ezra and has grown to 6,000+ products and 228 employees. For more, visit www.eksuccess.com.

1. Fiskars acquired Cloud 9 Design and Heidi Grace Designs. Cloud 9 Design features hand-made papers that are then reproduced to give a three-dimensional appearance. Lines include themed paper collections, the WoodStone™ collection, Page Coasters, and Photo Banner Collection. Heidi Grace Designs markets stickers, papers, and embellishments, and recently introduced Pocket Scraps, a line of cards and envelopes.

Fiskars School, Office & Craft Division is part of Fiskars Corp., founded in 1649 (yes, 1649) in Finland and traded on the Helsinki Stock Exchange (HEX:FIS). Its original orange-handled scissors design is in the permanent design collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Fiskars will support the design of products from the current headquarters of both companies, while moving the distribution divisions to Wausau, WI, and the operations to Fiskars’ headquarters in Madison, WI. For more, visit www.fiskars.com, www.heidigrace.com, and www.cloud9design.biz.

2. Diversified Graphics, creators of the stationery brands, Mara-Mi and Paper Prince, has joined forces with Paper Salon. Paper Salon's paper products, stamps, custom-colored ink pads, and card-making supplies, including its Slip-In™ patterned envelope liners, will now be distributed through DGI’s distribution/fulfillment center. Paper Salon's founder Carla Cohen is now VP of DGI's new paper crafting division. The partnership plans to unveil new products at the CHA Las Vegas show.

3. Publisher/manufacturer Hot Off the Press acquired Accent Depot, manufacturer of a variety of brads, from metal and colored brads to brads that are shaped, painted, and fabric-covered. HOTP will begin shipping Accent Depot products on Jan. 16.

There will be one issue of CLN before the TNNA show, and two issues before the CHA winter show. If you're unveiling new product lines – AND you have them on your website – CLN will report it so buyers can check your site as they compile their "booths to visit" list. CLN will publish your company name, very brief description, booth number, and link to the page containing the new product lines. Email the info to mike@clnonline.com. Please, ONLY if your website contains the new product info.

The Home Sewing Assn. board of directors elected June Mellinger, Dir. of Education at Brother Int., as President and a member of the board. Dan Covitt, President of New Stylemaker, was elected to the new VP position and Frank Rizzo, President/CEO of Simplicity, was elected Treasurer. Both Covitt and Rizzo were also named to the board.

The newly elected board includes Stephanie Dell’Olio (Marcus Bros.), Martin Favre (Bernina). Michael Fuss (Wrights), Dotty Grexa (Jo-Ann's), Jim Hankins (Textile Creations), Eric Herman (Air-Lite Synthetics), Peter Isaacson (Fabric Place), Steve Jeffery (Tacony), Eric McMaster (Kwik-Sew Pattern), Johan Starrenburg (Prym), Dale Sutherland (Coats & Clark), and Andrew Sylvia (Cranston).

The elections resulted from newly amended by-laws adopted in September which provide for the new office of VP, the elimination of the Exec Committee, and a reduction in the number of directors from 32 to 15.

"I believe we have a strong and effective leadership in place and I am honored to be taking the helm of HSA at this time," Mellinger said. "It is an incredibly exciting time for our industry and I look forward to the challenges and successes ahead."

Retail. The star was Michaels, which continued to grow and produce record earnings ... Jo-Ann's and A.C. Moore posted disappointing results much of the year, while Hancock slipped into the red ... Independents generally had a flat year and a number of independent scrapbook stores closed ... Wal-Mart seemed to have been out-performed by Target until November and its stock languished all year. The retailer was besieged with lawsuits and positive and negative publicity ... Hobby Lobby, a private company, appeared to roll along ... Garden Ridge emerged from bankruptcy, as did Frank's, but as a real estate company rather than as a retail chain ... Numerous non-industry chains siphoned off sales of memory products from industry stores.

Products. Scrapbooking continued to evolve and encompass papercrafts. It appears to have peaked within the traditional confines of the industry, but with so many non-industry stores selling bits and pieces of the category, it's impossible to say if consumer interest grew or waned ... Yarn continued very strong but appeared to flatten in the fall due to warm weather and increased competition dividing the pie ... Beads showed strong growth – for jewelrymaking and as embellishments for clothing, quilts, scrapbooks, etc. Most other categories seemed to languish.

Memory. There was a flurry at year's end – EK Success to GTCR Golder Rauner ... Cloud 9 Designs and Heidi Grace Designs to Fiskars (see article, below) ... Accent Depot to Hot Off the Press ... Diversified Graphics and Paper Salon forming a partnership ... Advent acquired Making Memories, but management retains a "significant" ownership stake ... Sorenson Capital invested in Provo Craft; management retained a significant equity stake. 

Autumn Leaves joined the Creativity family which includes Westrim, DMD, Blue Moon Beads, and Crop in Style ... Int. Paper sold Strathmore Artist Products to Mohawk Paper Mills ... Limited Edition Rubberstamps joined Hampton Art ... Colorbok acquired Quincrafts ... Xyron acquired Granite Peak , specifically the Wishblade Personal Media Cutter and the Wishblade design library ... Paper Zone, a 15-store chain, purchased 17 Memories & More Stores.

General. KKR, a major stockholder in Primedia; Bain Capital, former owner of Tulip; and a reality company bought Toys R Us ... The Australian chain Lincraft was sold ... Kmart and Sears merged ... Federated's acquisition of May Co. created the largest U.S. department store chain ... Patrick Giraud, President Jim Daler, and a group of shareholders took control of the Daler-Rowney Group.

Loew-Cornell acquired selected assets of Innovo ...G+J USA Publishing, publisher of Family Circle and others, was sold to Meredith, publisher of Better Homes and Gardens, and various industry-related magazines ... Rose Art was sold to Mega Bloks ... Aspire Media acquired Interweave Press ... Variety Distributors bought Rust Wholesale ... Sun Capital Partners, which now owns Rag Shop, agreed to purchase ShopKo ... Doug Kreinik is now the sole owner of Kreinik Mgr. ... The owner of Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff sewing machines was sold to the owner of Singer machines. The year ended with news that Primedia had put its industry-related magazines up for sale, including Creating Keepsakes, Simple Scrapbooks, Craftrends, Paper Crafts, Sew News and others, but not the bead-related magazines.

Chains. Jo-Ann's announced the resignations of David Bolen, Exec VP of Merchandising/Marketing; Brian Carney, Exec VP/CFO; and Valerie Gentile Sachs, Exec VP/General Counsel/Secretary – and Chair/CEO/President Alan Rosskamm is giving up his presidency and CEO responsibilities ... Co-Founder/CEO Jack Parker said he will retire from A.C. Moore by the end of next year ... John Menzer, the former head of the old corporate Ben Franklin, was promoted to CEO of U.S. stores for Wal-Mart ... Ron Staffieri, former Michaels president, became CEO of Rag Shops and was nominated to serve on the CHA board.

Hobby Lobby named Steve Green president but David Green, who again made the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, remains as CEO ... Michaels named former Stein Mart exec Susan Van Benten Odle as Merchandising VP for home dec ... Former Rag Shop CEO Jeff Gerstel became Exec VP of Store Operations for A.C. Moore ... Garden Ridge named Mary McNabb as CEO ... James Austin resigned as Exec VP/COO for Hancock Fabrics ... Duckwall-ALCO named Frank's Nursery and Aaron Bros. (Michaels) former president Bruce Dale as President/CEO ... Big Lots named Steven Fishman as Chair/CEO/President.

Others. The Society of Decorative Painters hired a new exec director, but he resigned a few months later ... Shane Cullimore assumed leadership of Crafters Home ... Bill George became CEO and Nina Rancourt became National Sales Manager for Delta/Rubber Stampede ... Cari Clement was named the Dir. of Fashion & Design for Caron ... Rick Caron is Dir. of New Business Development for Coats North America's Crafts division.

Richard Brown, formerly of Spinrite, is the new President of Point Distributors ... Bill Reed left Meredith for F+W Publications ... Caron named Ed Hamrick as Dir. of Marketing ... Mark Hill left Creativity to be Chief Marketing/Sales Officer and a member of the Exec Committee for Brushstrokes® Fine Art .. Mark Lee, formerly of AMACO, is VP/Sales & Marketing for Makin’s Clay in North America ... Faye Morrow Bell joined Li'l Davis Designs' design team.

Retired. Some wonderful industry veterans retired – a number of Ben Franklin owners ... C Boyd, a sales rep in the West ... Sales rep Gerry Gerri and his wife, Charlene ... Judy Lombardo, VP of Merchandise for Rag Shops.

Rest in Peace. Eva-Marie Boyd, wife of C Boyd and author of CLN's Legal Q & A column ... Janet Iyoya, Sr. VP of Creativity ... Joe Scarfo, Jr., sales manager for Caron Int. ... Betsy Friendmann, product manager for Prym Dritz ... Eric Berger, founder of New York Fabrics ... Wal-Mart heir and board member John Walton ... Gene Takei, sales director of Sakura of America ... Micki Reis of Hoffman Media ... Julie Marchington, co-author of Funky Knits: Knitting Know-How for Hip Young Things to be published by Interweave Press in April ... James Foster, a former buyer for A.C. Moore.

Martha. Convicted felon Martha Stewart walked out of prison wearing a poncho and within 24 hours the major yarn companies had a poncho project on their websites. The projects have been collectively downloaded well over a million times since.

The U.S. government reports economic growth and job creation are strong, but consumer confidence rose and fell all year ... Inflation remained low, except for drugs and oil; the Bureau of Labor Statistics said natural gas prices rose 36.4% over the past year. The government forecast natural gas bills may increase as much as 48% this winter. ... A new bankruptcy law went into effect, making it more difficult for consumers to declare bankruptcy, but the primary cause is astronomical medical bills ... Congress passed Central America Free Trade Agreement ... The Small Business Health Fairness Act (HR 525) is making its way through Congress, but probably would not be an effective for national trade groups to help its members.

Lawsuits. Wal-Mart Vice Chair Thomas Coughlin retired and almost immediately traded lawsuits with the retailer as federal investigators snooped around ... A federal grand jury, the IRS, and the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated whether trusts controlled by Michaels board chair Charles Wyly Jr. and vice-chair Sam Wyly were not properly disclosed in SEC filings. The Wylys denied any wrongdoing ... ABRY Partners purchased F+W Publications but later filed a lawsuit claiming F+W's finances were mis-stated ... Disappointing reports on the Dallas and Atlanta gift shows ... Wal-Mart was the subject of numerous lawsuits, which is probably inevitable for a company of its size.

Shows/Groups. Some consumer scrapbook sponsors fought as the growing number of shows began to slice the total pie into smaller pieces ... The School, Home & Office Products Assn. replaced its regular show with Paperworld USA, which did not receive good reviews ... Vendors and buyers complained about the number of trade shows ... The CHA signed an agreement with Offinger Management to assume management of the CHA Summer Show ... The Home Sewing Assn. and the Int. Textiles Expo made peace, so there is only one sewing trade show in the fall and spring ... The Hobby Manufacturers Assn.was launched ... Coats President John Laurie became the chair of the Craft Yarn Council of America ... MemoryTrends was named one of 50 fastest growing trade shows in North America by Tradeshow Week.

CHA officials report pre-registration is well ahead of '05 "and we are on track for a record size show this January."

EXHIBIT SPACE. The CHA show is 98% sold out – 1,100+ exhibitors. The exhibit space contract is available at www.chashow.org. For info, call Shelley Fulghum at 201-794-1133, ext. 220 or email sfulghum@craftandhobby.org.

PARTY. The second annual "Imagination Celebration," sponsored by Scrapbook Retailer magazine, is 8-11 pm Mon., Jan. 30 at the Las Vegas Hilton and features the Scrapbook Retailer Choice awards, a cocktail party, silent auction, and fashion show.

DEADLINES. Exhibitors, the deadline for submitting your application for the Innovations Showcase is Dec. 23. The form is at www.chashow.org/pdfs/06_innovations.pdf.

REMINDER. Don't forget the golf tournament Sat., Jan 28. The 2005 event raised $20,000 for the CHA Foundation, CHA's charitable arm that supports non-profit groups that promote youth arts and crafts education. For info, www.chashow.org/golf_tournament.html.

PR. CHA exhibitors: Need help preparing press kits for the press room? Email Angie Pedersen at angie@onescrappysite.com.

DESIGNERS. Want to reserve a table at the Designer Showcase at the CHA Winter Show? It will be held Jan. 29, 1 to 4:30 pm and all exhibitors, publishers, and the press will be invited to attend. A reception will be held immediately afterward. The deadline to reserve a table is Jan. 9. Forms can requested by email by writing to memberservices@craftandhobby.org.

TNNA. On-line pre-registration for TNNA members continues through Dec. 22 for the San Diego show Jan. 21-23. Sponsors report tickets for the 95+ classes are selling quickly and some hotels are sold out. The final count is 329 exhibitors in 828 booths. Visit www.tnna.org, call 800-889-8662, or email tnna.info@offinger.com.

American Public Television announced the premiere of the national Create channel featuring a variety of PBS craft-related shows. It's the first public television (PTV) digital channel to launch since the digital TV carriage agreement with the National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. At launch, Create will reach nearly 60% of U.S. TV Households with 134 PBS stations broadcasting 12-24 hours daily on stations’ new digital signals and via digital cable systems. Create will be available in 15 of the top 25 markets, plus seven statewide public tv networks.

Each week, Create will feature 30 high-profile series and specials. As CLN understands it, craft-related shows include Scrapbook Memories, For Your Home, Glass with Vicki Payne, One Stroke Painting with Donna Dewberry, Paint, Paper and Crafts, Quilt Central, Sewing with Nancy, The Best of the Joy of Painting and America Sews with Sue Hausmann.

A Create web site will be available soon which will enable viewers type in their zip codes to locate their local channel. If their station isn’t carrying the channel, they should contact their local public television station and request it.

Need a last-minute Christmas gift? The Bloomsbury Greatest Business Book Ranking asked 3,000+ business people what they considered to be the greatest business books of all time:

In Search of Excellence, Tom Peters & Robert Waterman, 1982 ... The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey, 1989 ... The Practice of Management, Peter Drucker, 1954 ... How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie, 1937 ... Competing for the Future, Gary Hamel & C.K. Prahalad, 1994 ... The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, 1776 ... Built to Last, James Collins & Jerry Porras, 1994 ... Small Is Beautiful, E.F. Schumacher, 1973 ... The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge, 1990 ... The One Minute Manager, Ken Blanchard, 1982 ... Competitive Strategy, Michael Porter, 1980 ... The Dilbert Principle, Scott Adams, 1996 ... Principles of Scientific Management, F.W. Taylor, 1911 ... Funky Business, Kjell Nordstrom & Jonas Ridderstrale, 2000 ... The Goal, Eli Goldratt, 1984 ... My Years with General Motors, Alfred Sloan, 1963 ... The Dream Society, Rolf Jensen, 1999 ... Out of the Crisis, Edward Deming, 1982. (Comment: Our favorite is The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.)

1. The December issue of Craftrends includes its fifth annual consumer survey, What Crafters Want. Because it was conducted the same way of previous surveys, the results can give you a strong indication of industry trends. But read the "Methodology" first: notice the confidence level is plus or minus 3. For example, participation in "Cardmaking" increased two percentage points from the 2004 survey. Because the confidence level is 3, however, you can't safely conclude Cardmaking has increased. On the other hand, "Magazines" rose 7 points; that tells me more crafters are using magazines more often.

2. There seems to be an increase this season of newspapers encouraging their readers to make holiday decorations.

3. Hobby Lobby's CEO David Green has written a book and now his son, Mart, has made a movie. It's Beyond the Spear and tells the story of five missionaries slain in Ecuador in the 1950s. To read this fascinating story, visit www.assistnews.net/Stories/s05120020.htm.

SEWING. VSM, supplier of Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff sewing machines and products, was sold to affiliates of Kohlberg Management IV, which already owns the Singer brand of sewing machines. Singer's Don Fletcher will be CEO of a new Kohlberg holding company, SVP (which stands for Singer, Viking, and Pfaff).

HUMOR. To read a grouch's view of Christmas, visit http://brainsnap.com/node/280.

HOLIDAY SALES. The Commerce Department reported U.S. retail sales rose a smaller-than-expected 0.3% in November and fell when a surge in auto purchases was excluded, Reuters reported. "A report like this will continue to fuel the debate about how strong consumer spending will be over the holiday season," Alan Gayle, a managing director at Trusco Capital Management, told Reuters.

STOCK. Michaels board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.10/share payable Jan. 31 to shareholders of record Jan. 13, and authorized the purchase of another 5 million shares of company stock. Michaels has repurchased about 7.7 million shares since December 2000, the Associated Press reported, and currently has about 133.7 million shares outstanding.

SCHOOLS. The National Scrapbooking Assn. launched a Scrapbooking in the Schools program which offers support to schools that have or are establishing scrapbooking programs and activities. For more, visit www.nsa.gs or email schoolsvip@nsa.gs.

LAWSUITS. As CLN has reported, vendors are demanding retailers accurately report and fully account for seemingly arbitrary chargebacks and markdowns – which decreases what they owe to the vendors. Saks, under investigation by the SEC for its chargeback policies, gave back $40+ million to vendors but it wasn't enough; Adamson Apparel filed a class-action suit alleging that Saks took unlawful offsets and discounts while failing to provide proper notification to vendors. The suit also alleges Saks charged vendors more for returned goods than Saks had actually paid. Saks also faces similar allegations in a separate suit in federal court and a similar class action was brought by vendors against Federated is also pending in New York.

BEADS. The 2006 Bead & Art Glass Fest will be Nov. 10-12 (classes begin Nov. 9) in Orlando. Show and event sponsorship packages are available for exhibitors wanting more involvement; email Kareena Gibson, kgibson@offinger.com. Magazines interested in a Publication Partners Package, email Cindy Sims at csims@offinger.com. For booth info, email Chris Reinke at creinke@offinger.com. For registration info, visit www.beadandartglassfest.com.

ROLODEX. Paper House has moved. Mailing address: P.O. Box 259, Saugerties, NY 12477. For shipping, 160 Malden Turnpike, Bldg. #2, Saugerties, NY 12477. Phone 845-246-7261; fax 845-246-7508. The 800 #'s, 255-7316 and (fax) 679-8976, remain the same.

SHOWS. The Craft, Hobby & Stitch show is Feb. 19-21 in Birmingham, England. Visit www.ichf.co.uk/ichf-stitchestrade or email info@ichf.co.uk.

PEOPLE. Jo-Ann's named David Goldston as Sr. VP/General Counsel/Secretary. Goldston had been General Counsel of W.W. Holdings, a private manufacturing and distribution company ... 30-year industry veteran Royce Hines is VP of Sales for me and my BIG ideas.

Lawrence Schiff Silk Mills named William Joos as VP of Operations. Bill had been VP for Int. Sales for Comex/Cytesa and Exec VP for CM Offray and Son; visit www.schiffribbons.com. 

MEDIA. ToyDirectory.com is expanding its coverage beyond toys to include crafts and publishes a free online trade magazine at www.toydirectory.com/monthly. It accepts advertising, too; call 310-979-4330.

NEEDLEWORK. From Crain's Chicago Business: "As the recent knitting craze is dying down, needlepoint continues its steady growth. Those who haven't picked up a project in years might be startled to find a wide, lush selection of fibers ranging from sturdy wools to variegated silks to metallic threads. More sophisticated canvases are available, as well — designs are less 'country kitchen' and more classic, with monograms, English botanicals and Asian rug designs rounding out the selection." (Comment: We're doubtful about knitting slowing down, but we hope the magazine is correct about needlepoint.)

TV. The first Paint, Paper and Crafts, an expanded version of Paint, Paint, Paint, was fed to PBS stations Dec.10. It's sponsored by Plaid and MinWax ... The fifth series of One Stroke Painting with Donna Dewberry, feeds from American Public Television on Jan. 3. Jo-Ann's is a sponsor .. The 19^th For Your Home series, sponsored by VIP from Cranston and Singer also is being fed to stations Jan. 3. Call your local station and ask for these series.

YARN. Lycos, which operates a search engine, reported crochet was one of the "Top Fads of 2005," according to its search engine queries.

To see the current job listings from the only personnel recruitment firm specializing in our industry, click on Jobs in the left-hand column or click HERE.

A. C. Moore (ACMR). Last*: 14.63 ... Change**: +0.47
Hancock Fabrics (HKF). Last*: 4.02 ... Change**: -0.28
Jo-Ann Stores (JAS). Last*: 11.97 ... Change**: +0.08
Michaels (MIK). Last*: 36.87 ... Change**: -0.99
Wal-Mart (WMT). Last*: 49.27 ... Change**: +0.58
CLN Retail Index. Last*: 162.46 ... Change**: +0.5%
Dow Jones Index. Last*: 10,875.59 ... Change**: 00.0%

In June CLN published the following: "John Knuckles, the manager of the Wal-Mart in Nitro, WV, announced a new, 'open-availability' policy for his 400+ employees, the Associated Press reported. Employees must be available for any shift between 7 am and 11 pm, seven days a week, or they will be fired."

But during a final proof just before it went online, I realized I had left out an "f" in a word in the last sentence. Although a few subscriber friends suggested I publish it without inserting the "f," I chickened out and made the correction before putting it online.

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3. Creative Leisure News is published the first and third Mondays of each month.  Your next issue will be Monday, January 2. Our very best wishes for a peaceful, holy holiday season and a healthy, prosperous New Year.

xxx

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