American Crafts Acquiring Die Cuts With A View Paper Division
American Crafts has announced that it is acquiring the paper division of competitor Die Cuts With A View (aka DCWV), which is well-known to many papercrafters for its paper pads sold under the Stacks brand name.
Provo, Utah-based Die Cuts With A View, which was founded twenty years ago by Nancy Hill, has large amounts of shelf space in national craft chains with their Stacks pads of patterned paper. Some of the pads are specialty paper featuring glitter and other decorative elements.
In addition to the DCWV paper crafts division, American Crafts has also acquired the company's letter board product line.
In the announcement, American Crafts CEO Wayne Mitchell expressed the company's excitement to have the Stacks brand under the American Crafts roof. “Over the years, Mike and Nancy Hill have done an outstanding job of building the amazing Stacks® brand,” says Mitchell. “Their products have influenced thousands of crafters' creativity, and AmericanCrafts is proud to continue their legacy by offering Stacks® and the letterboard to the crafting market.”
Mike Hill, CEO of Die Cuts with a View Acquisition Corp, said in the acquisition announcement that American Crafts will make a good home for building the DCWV brand's future: “AmericanCrafts is a company that’s well respected in the crafting industry, ” says Hill. “Over the years as the market landscape has changed, many wonderful crafting brands have found a soft landing place there, where they’ve continued and flourished. We expect that tradition will continue with the DCVW brand.”
DCWV Letterboard
DCWV Letterboard
The acquisition of the DCWV letterboard product gives American Crafts two letter board products, since Heidi Swapp launched a similar product at the January 2017 Creativation trade show. The design style of the two products, however, is drastically different. The Heidi Swapp boards, available in 3 sizes, are portrait shaped and all white, with an almost elegant look to their black and gold text elements (some of them in script). The wedding and party market appears to be a prime market for that product. In contrast, the DCWV letterboard has a landscape shape and less formal colors, with design elements (including trendy emojis and other graphic elements) available in a wide variety of colors.
Heidi Swapp Letterboard
Heidi Swapp Letterboard
The DCWV Home and Blue Moon Beads brands were not part of the acquisition by American Crafts. Those segments of Die Cuts With A View Acquisition Corp were purchased by New View, according to the announcement. (I believe this probably refers to New View Gifts, a Pennsylvania based gift and home decor company whose products are available from retailers such as Amazon, Wayfair, and Kohl's. New View Gifts registered a new presence in Utah the day of the announcement of the DCWV sale.)
American Crafts will continue to produce paper crafts products under the DCWV brand, and many of the brand's key designers and product developers will be continuing with the brand as it moves forward under American Crafts.
Retailers can begin ordering DCWV paper crafts products from American Crafts immediately, and shipping of DCWV products will begin from American Crafts' warehouse after a 7-10 day transition.
American Crafts has been over the years acquiring an immense portfolio of recognizable paper crafts brands. They started slowly, with the acquisition of Pebbles in 2009 and then Crate Paper in 2011. Licensing deals were signed with Studio Calico in 2011 and Project Life in 2013. But then in 2013-2014, American Crafts went on what can only be described as a buying spree. Between July 2013 and June 2014, the company acquired Bazzill, We R Memory Keepers, Pink Paislee (& the Heidi Swapp license), and Imaginisce. After the licensing deal with Studio Calico ended in the past two years, it appears American Crafts is looking to expand its portfolio again, first purchasing Core'dinations brand from Darice earlier this year and now adding the DCWV brand.
