Hampton Art Acquires KI Memories
Hampton Art has announced that it has acquired the assets of KI Memories from founders and owners Kimberly and Ira Sabel.
KI Memories was founded in 2001 and is known for its signature colorful sleek modern style. The company had appeared to be struggling for some time, after a brief foray onto the shelves of Michaels several years ago. Since the fall of 2011, KI's marketing efforts seemed to have focused largely on its digital products sold through Jessica Sprague's online store and on its digital cutting files sold through the Silhouette Store.
Things looked especially bad for KI Memories after two of their product lines that were shown at CHA Summer 2011 failed to make it to production and were only released in digital format. A third line from that show, the Valentine's-themed Hot Date, was well received and did produce a modest success in stores for KI. But the company then skipped CHA Winter 2012 altogether, showing no new lines. On April 9th, KI announced the opening of a temporary online "pop up" shop to clearance inventory for two weeks. That shop closed on April 21st, followed a few days later by the announcement of the company's sale to Hampton Art.
The name Hampton Art is probably most familiar to scrapbookers as the company that produces licensed cling rubber stamps for companies such as Graphic45 and Doodlebug Design. But Hampton Art is also the company behind the Studio G and Ditto brands that are familiar to stampers. Hampton Art, Inc. is a subsidiary of National Spinning Company, Inc and is based in Washington, NC.
Kimberly Sabel, who was Chief Creative Officer of KI Memories, will continue to work with Hampton Art to develop and design new products for the KI Memories brand for scrapbooking and other craft categories. She had this to say of KI's new home at Hampton Art and her role there:
This acquisition will allow KI Memories® to flourish in new ways. I'm thrilled to be partnering with Hampton Art and its team to develop new and exciting products for crafters everywhere. I am also excited to do so exclusively for the KI Memories brand, as one of its original founders.
Ed Bolen, VP/GM of Hampton Art also weighed in on the new addition to his company:
We are very excited about adding the KI Memories brand and its outstanding products to the existing Hampton Art portfolio. These added designs and products will further enhance our presence in scrapbooking with the widely accepted, high quality lines for which KI is known. We also look forward to developing more innovative product lines with Kimberly on board.
Sales, customer service, and operations for KI Memories will be moving immediately from Dallas, TX to Hampton Art's headquarters in Washington, NC. Wholesale orders or inquiries for KI Memories can be directed to Hampton Art's customer service department at 800-981-5172 or to lynntoler@hamptonart.com.
