Melody Ross revealed on her personal blog on July 15th that she departed Chatterbox, the company that she founded, back in April:
It still has not been made public so I won’t go into all of the details, close family and friends know…but as of last April…….I am no longer with Chatterbox….the company I founded and built and love, and after I was done running it and owning it, I had a wonderful contract to lead the vision of it and design all of the products….in April, it was time for that to be over…..not sure the future of my tender and sweet and oh-so-been-through-the-ringer company….but, I will sure let you know as details unfold…I really love and respect the people who own the brand now, and know that they will do what’s best for Chatterbox…..For now…the information that is mine is that as a family, it was time for me to go and to do what’s been in my heart for a very long time…..
Chatterbox was purchased by Ultra-Pro, also the parent company of 7 Gypsies, in December 2007. Chatterbox had previously brought in an investor in November 2006 to take control of their business operations. At that time, Ross reverted to solely a creative role in the company.
So how is Chatterbox moving forward without its founder? That is unclear. The Chatterbox blog has not been updated since April 3rd, and no sneak peeks have been seen of new summer releases. The company is also not listed as an exhibitor at CHA-Summer, although Ultra-Pro brand 7 Gypsies is.
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About Nancy Nally
I think Chatterbox is gone. My LSS told me that one of their tools released in January this year will now be released in 2010 and that it will be under the 7gs brand. If the Chatterbox brand was staying surely they would just release it at a later time under the same name.
Chatterbox is gone! It is being absorbed into 7gypsies. The Ultra*Pro family is really just an aquisition machine to amass a balance sheet capable of a IPO. And they have REALLY high turnover, so don’t count on any long term service.