Is Chatterbox Back?
It's no secret that Chatterbox has seemed to have lost their way recently.
When I visited the company's booth at CHA-Winter 2007 they weren't actually introducing new product lines (other than a few paper designs that retailers could get if they committed to a large merchandising program). Founder Melody Ross had recently given up her role running the company in favor of managing the company's creative operations. An investor had been brought in to help with the company's finances.
Throughout 2007 the company produced little new product, selling off old inventory instead at aggressively reduced prices through its consumer website. In Dec. 2007, the company was sold for the 2nd time in 13 months, being acquired by Ultra-Pro (which already owned scrapbook company 7 Gypsies and has since acquired Around the Block).
Since then the company has started producing new products again but has seemed to struggle to regain the standing that it once had in the industry.
This week, Chatterbox announced a deal with Sam's Club to sell limited edition kits in a limited number of Sam's Club stores. The kits - holiday themed and available in two different sizes - look to be arguably the best thing to come out of Chatterbox in a long time.
Selected Sam's Club stores will be selling the kits in one of the available sizes. The price points are $39.95 and $49.95 for the two sizes.
Does this kit signal a resurgence of Chatterbox? Aside from the obvious financial benefits to the company of a deal this size, the contents of the kit itself are in my opinion the best thing that Chatterbox has created for a long time.
The designs are a beautiful return to the usable, unintimidating elegance that Chatterbox built their reputation on. It will be exciting to see if they can continue in this vein with introductions at CHA-Winter in January.
Chatterbox is an industry icon that broke new ground and carried scrapbooking in a new direction when they initially entered the arena. It would be nice to see them able to continue into the next decade with a refreshed creative vision.
