Wendy Rosen on wed 9 apr 03
Dear Friends,
Our artist friend Rich Kolb at Yardbirds has been hit by
yet another round of knock offs. At this moment Rich has
no less than 8 lawsuits against manufacturers and chainstores
who are selling and displaying knock-off Yardbirds...
Yardbirds are unique sculptures made from garden utensils, handtools etc
Look for these items...
Begging hound dog (Bed Bath and Beyond)
Terrier dog (Linens & Things) http://www.LNT.com
Many dog and cat styles (Kirklands)
Many dog and cat styles (Kohls)
To see a sample yardbird (some are painted, others unpainted)...
http://www.critter-creations.com/art.html
Rich believes that he was targeted at a major gift show
not the Buyers Market... in fact we have no record of
the distributor or manufacturer ever attending one of our shows.
Many designers like Kate Spade go into stores with hefty bags
and confiscate the knock-offs she finds. Stores don't stop her
because they KNOW they are committing a crime!
You Can Help!!!!
This last Sunday Linens and Things featured a knock-off
on the front page of their Sunday circular in more than 200
large daily newspapers. It is estimated that there might be
as many as 200,000 knock offs on shelves throughout the US!
Rich will be in federal court next week about this problem...
but if could take a few weeks to get a restraining order.
Until then we have some work to do...
Please go to your local store and do one of the following...
1) Picket on Saturday with a sign that says
"Linens and Things" steals from artists!
2) Hide the knock-offs behind displays under tables
within the store.
3) Make the shelf look messy... put some of the pieces
upside down. This will "de-Value" the items.
4) Purchase pieces and return them before the
return deadline... (when the adv has expired and
the injunction must be enforced.)
5) Talk to store managers about this problem.
Ask them to put these pieces in a less desirable
spot in the store.
6) Retailers- Send Rich a letter telling him
you are cancelling all present and future orders and
returning all merchandise due to the knock-offs.
(Even if you don't mean it) This will give Rich
more "damages" when the judge makes his findings
public.
Thanks for your help!!!
Wendy
--
Wendy Rosen
President, The Rosen Group
3000 Chestnut Ave #304 Baltimore, Maryland 21211
410.889-3093 phone 410.243.7089 fax
AmericanStyle Magazine http://americanstyle.com
Niche Magazine and Awards http://nichemag.com
Career Services & Mentors http://americancraft.com
The Buyers Markets of American Craft
Internships/Scholarships
Market Insider Newsletter (FREE)
Founders of...
Arts Business Institute http://artsbusinessinstitute.org
Ms Noel on wed 9 apr 03
I would also suggest that we each send an e-mail to the companies listed in
Wendy's message.
| |
|
