According to the Hambly Screen Prints blog, the brand is in the process of “winding down operations” at the direction of founder Harry Hambly and will produce no more new product.
The blog post earlier today was authored by Alison Kreft Abad, who was the company’s Art Director for over 8 years. She states that she is no longer with Hambly because of the company’s intent to produce no future Hambly Screen Prints product, and that she is transitioning to new opportunities.
Santa Clara, California-based Hambly Studios has been in business for over 35 years. The company is known in the crafts industry for its graphic styled screen printed products such as transparencies, and for its rub-ons, washi tape and prismatic stickers, but it also produces other products that include wall decals, notebooks and calendars.
UPDATED: Allison Kreft Abad indicated in a post about the closing yesterday on her own blog that one of the new opportunities that she is working on is designing a new collection for Echo Park Paper Company.
About Nancy Nally
That’s a shame their transparencies are the thickest & best in business. I use them often in my mini albums
WOW!!!! What next!?!
I hope that someone else picks up the Hambly product line and continues it. I love their transparencies.
I love Hambly’s products so I’m sad about this news
This will be sad for customers, but the articles does say they were in business for 35 years. Maybe they are retiring and there was no takers or grown children that wanted to take it over. Especially, if they had an art designer for 8 years. That’s longer than most folded scrapbook industry company.
So sad to hear of another company closing!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just don’t like that AT ALL!
The economy is ruining the scrapbook industry, just as surely as it ruined all of the mom and pop stores in my area. This stinks!
There’s no indication as to why they are winding down business operations. They may not be closing due to financial distress on their part.
As Susan noted, the company has been in business for a long time and is still run by the original owners.
Soon the big chains (and their cheap overseas product) will have successfully squeezed the mom-and-pops and the small guys (and the true innovation) out of the market. And perhaps one day, when margins aren’t quite what they were or Scrapbook products don’t sell quite like they used to, some executive will decide that the shelf space makes more money with something else and it will disappear overnight. Then where will we be? Sorry — just a little disappointed at the trend and the good folks disappearing from the industry.
It really does look like the company was healthy but that the owner wanted to retire. I’m not sure this had anything to do with big chains or market competition. It just sounds like they couldn’t find a buyer for the company at terms they were happy with.
I love Hambly products this is breaking my heart a bit.
Hambly Studios will be missed. They had a great run.
A darned shame, that’s what it is. I’m a fan of transparencies and rub-ons (and NO, I don’t care that they’re not “in style”) and Hambly made the best of both. Too, too bad that they’re shutting down.
I worked with Hambly Studios in the 1990″s for silk screened items for the company I marketing work for at the time. Everyone at Hambly was delightful and wonderful to work with. Their products were always terrific quality. Then I discovered their scrapbooking line. What fun to use their stuff for my hobby. I’ll miss the products.