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new business model

updated sun 16 oct 05

 

Karen Sullivan on fri 14 oct 05


I tried to order 10 pounds of manganese dioxide...
It was part of an order of 1000 pounds of
Glaze material....and Laguna told me
They only sold manganese dioxide in
100 pound bags...
I do not think I will use 100 pounds
Of manganese dioxide in this lifetime.

Laguna has closed their retail store.
Telephone orders picked up at a will
Call window...or delivered are
their new business practice.
Several new directions and philosophies
Would indicate they no longer wish
To trade with individual potters.

It's too bad....I often wander in the
Store to visually see what is new on
The market...and pick up tools,
Books or materials I have the
Opportunity to evaluate visually.
I wonder who Laguna's market is,
If not the 4000 potters in
Southern California....

Jon...if you are there...perhaps
Pass this on to the wizards running
The show...

Karen

Andrew_M_Casto@PROGRESSIVE.COM on fri 14 oct 05


Karen,

I'm not sure how Laguna's shop runs in California, and I have never
actually been to the location in Ohio, but I do have my clay mixed for me
at the Ohio location, and they do a fantastic job. I only send this in
response to your line advising "several new directions and philosophies
would indicate they no longer wish to trade with individual potters". I
have them mix a custom batch for me in 1 ton orders, and they are happy to
keep my recipe on file...I just call and give them my name and payment
info, and the clay arrives in my driveway 2 weeks later, freshly filter
pressed and pugged. I think this is fantastic, and while it is a little
more expensive than mixing my own clay, the time savings for a potter with
a full time bread winning job is well worth it. I find their willingness to
work with me as an individual potter to be exceptional. I have however
never ordered glaze materials for them, and for the record do not plan on
using 100 lbs of mang. diox in my lifetime either.

Andy Casto
www.redbridgepottery.com





Karen Sullivan
INK.NET> To
Sent by: Clayart CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
MICS.ORG>
Subject
New business model
10/14/2005 09:21
AM


Please respond to
Clayart
MICS.ORG>






I tried to order 10 pounds of manganese dioxide...
It was part of an order of 1000 pounds of
Glaze material....and Laguna told me
They only sold manganese dioxide in
100 pound bags...
I do not think I will use 100 pounds
Of manganese dioxide in this lifetime.

Laguna has closed their retail store.
Telephone orders picked up at a will
Call window...or delivered are
their new business practice.
Several new directions and philosophies
Would indicate they no longer wish
To trade with individual potters.

It's too bad....I often wander in the
Store to visually see what is new on
The market...and pick up tools,
Books or materials I have the
Opportunity to evaluate visually.
I wonder who Laguna's market is,
If not the 4000 potters in
Southern California....

Jon...if you are there...perhaps
Pass this on to the wizards running
The show...

Karen

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Debbie on fri 14 oct 05


Karen,

Rush out there NOW to get you mang diox. The retail store will remain open
until the 15th!
(this is very crummy news! I also don't need 100 lbs. of anything)

Good luck, Debbie



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On Behalf Of Karen
> Sullivan
> Sent: Friday, October 14, 2005 6:22 AM
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: New business model
>
>
> I tried to order 10 pounds of manganese dioxide...
> It was part of an order of 1000 pounds of
> Glaze material....and Laguna told me
> They only sold manganese dioxide in
> 100 pound bags...
> I do not think I will use 100 pounds
> Of manganese dioxide in this lifetime.
>
> Laguna has closed their retail store.
> Telephone orders picked up at a will
> Call window...or delivered are
> their new business practice.
> Several new directions and philosophies
> Would indicate they no longer wish
> To trade with individual potters.
>
> It's too bad....I often wander in the
> Store to visually see what is new on
> The market...and pick up tools,
> Books or materials I have the
> Opportunity to evaluate visually.
> I wonder who Laguna's market is,
> If not the 4000 potters in
> Southern California....
>
> Jon...if you are there...perhaps
> Pass this on to the wizards running
> The show...
>
> Karen
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> ____________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>

John Baymore on fri 14 oct 05


Karen,

The "manganese bit" you mention may at least partially be some "fallout"
from the recent lawsuits that have happend against suppliers over potter's
health issues. (Contact Monona at ACTS for info on this stuff.)

If you move a material from the original bag from the chemical supplier,
there are a host of legal requirements about labeling the packaging that
the material goes INTO. In my experience.... the correct labeling is not
exactly common from ceramic suppliers when you buy less than bag lots .
Usually it is a plastic bag with the name of the materials scribbled on
the bag with a marker or a sticky label with the name printed on it. If
you ASK..... you get a MSDS with it.

I beleive this subject was an issue at one of the recent trials. And with
manganese being such a "suspect material"..... it is one of the "high
sensitivity" ones, I would guess.

It is also possible that they don't want to get into the OSHA stuff at the
individual sattelite locations if they start breaking bag lots. Workplace
standards for such operations with employees are stringent.

Then again.... they may actively be trying to discourage the use of
manganese dioxide by craft potters.....as a service to the field.

This above is ALL conjecture....... why don't you just call Laguna
Coprorate and ask them why? Or maybe Jon Pancini (sp?) will relate it
here.

The one thing that I would be pretty sure of is that they STILL want to
deal with individual potters. That would be a LOT of lost revenues .


best,

...............john

John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086 USA

JBaymore@compuserve.com
http://www.JohnBaymore.com

"Please use compuserve address for any direct communications."

Lester Haworth on fri 14 oct 05


Karen,
Manganese Dioxide is available in 1 lb. bags on up to 10, 25, 50. or 1000
lbs.
We are happy to sell you any quantity in between, just let me know.

Les H.


-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On Behalf Of Karen
Sullivan
Sent: Friday, October 14, 2005 6:22 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: New business model


I tried to order 10 pounds of manganese dioxide...
It was part of an order of 1000 pounds of
Glaze material....and Laguna told me
They only sold manganese dioxide in
100 pound bags...
I do not think I will use 100 pounds
Of manganese dioxide in this lifetime.

Laguna has closed their retail store.
Telephone orders picked up at a will
Call window...or delivered are
their new business practice.
Several new directions and philosophies
Would indicate they no longer wish
To trade with individual potters.

It's too bad....I often wander in the
Store to visually see what is new on
The market...and pick up tools,
Books or materials I have the
Opportunity to evaluate visually.
I wonder who Laguna's market is,
If not the 4000 potters in
Southern California....

Jon...if you are there...perhaps
Pass this on to the wizards running
The show...

Karen

____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org

You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/

Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.

Shula on sat 15 oct 05


Oh, too bad. I enjoyed going there to look, touch, and buy as well. Seeing something on the internet or a catalogue is often insufficient. Guess that means a trip to Aardvark.

Shula
in sunny Redondo Beach, CA

-----Original Message-----
From: Karen Sullivan

Laguna has closed their retail store.
Telephone orders picked up at a will
Call window...or delivered are
their new business practice.
Several new directions and philosophies
Would indicate they no longer wish
To trade with individual potters.

It's too bad....I often wander in the
Store to visually see what is new on
The market...and pick up tools,
Books or materials I have the
Opportunity to evaluate visually.

Snail Scott on sat 15 oct 05


At 06:21 AM 10/14/2005 -0700, you wrote:
>I tried to order 10 pounds of manganese dioxide...
>It was part of an order of 1000 pounds of
>Glaze material....and Laguna told me
>They only sold manganese dioxide in
>100 pound bags...
>...indicate they no longer wish
>To trade with individual potters...



When I have dealt with Laguna in the past, I've
been told that they do not wish to cut out their
local/regional distributors by selling direct
to customers in those areas. So, they generally
sold 'direct' only to customers who were far
away from the nearest retail distributor. They
told me this about ten years ago.

Honestly, this doesn't seem totally unreasonable
as a business model. I suspect that another reason,
too, is to keep small-bagging operations out of
the big warehouses. They'd probably rather not
deal with that, and might prefer to ship only
wholesale-sized lots and whole bags, as they do
to their distributors.

-Snail