Junkitz

Big Changes Underway At Inque Boutique

July 16, 2008 By Nancy Nally Leave a Comment

Signs are starting to point to trouble at Inque Boutique.

Inque Boutique, formerly known as stamping company Sugarloaf, debuted its new brand identity at CHA-Summer 2007. At CHA-Winter 2008 the company debuted its expansion from stamping into paper lines.

However, sources close to the company are now telling Scrapbook Update that since CHA-Winter 2008, several key company employees have been laid off – including some extremely long-term personnel with Sugarloaf. These include Kitty Foster and Marg Helmsted, who were let go shortly after CHA. Within the past few weeks, additional personnel have been let go from the company: Kathleen Summers, and Kenny & Stacey Panassidi. All three were high-profile Inque employees. Summers had been with the company since 2005 and was its design team coordinator. The Panassidis were a much-publicized addition to Inque after the demise of their own company, Junkitz, in Dec. 2007.

In addition to the layoffs, several reliable sources tell Scrapbook Update that the company has suspended its (lucrative for designers) publication endorsement compensation program, although one source tells me a replacement program is in the works.

Layoffs and cost-cutting certainly sound like the actions of a company that is in financial trouble, especially when put in the context of a company that has been trying an ambitious expansion. Only time will tell if Inque Boutique will become another cautionary tale from the days of the scrapbook boom.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Inque Boutique, Junkitz, Kathleen Summers, Kenny Panassidi, Kitty Foster, Marg Helmsted, Stacey Panassidi, Sugarloaf Designs

Junkitz Bankruptcy Teaches Lesson in Credit Insurance

June 28, 2008 By Nancy Nally Leave a Comment

The Junkitz bankruptcy is moving toward being finalized now that the company’s assets have been disposed of at auction and the auctioneer’s report filed with the court. On June 20th, the bankruptcy trustee filed his application for compensation with the court. Once that is approved (the hearing is scheduled for August 20th), then the court can distribute the remaining funds to the company’s creditors as required by law depending on their status as secured or unsecured creditors and the amount of funds remaining.

Part of the filing for compensation by the trustee contains a statement of “Anticipated Distribution to Creditors” – and a lesson for any company that does business by accepting credit from its’ customers. The anticipated distribution in the Junkitz case is: Attorney 100% of claim, Secured Creditors 4.06% of claim and the line for General Unsecured Creditors is…blank, meaning they will get nothing.

Approached for comment about the upcoming resolution, several Junkitz creditors declined comment. Former Junkitz designer Teresa Collins issued the following statement:

It is always sad to deal with situations such as this. I knew as a unsecured creditor that I would never receive payment for all the designs and artwork that I created. I am sorry for all the creditors listed, both secure and unsecure that will not be paid. It has been difficult for all parties involved.

The lesson in the sad saga of Junkitz is that if you are extending credit to someone as part of your business you really should consider the option of purchasing credit insurance. Credit insurance works so you buy insurance against the possibility of someone defaulting on a debt owed to you due to circumstances such as bankruptcy. You would then file a claim for payment from the insurance company instead of from the debtor.

Credit insurance can actually be be very affordable, and can save your business if you are cannot afford to write-off (or even suffer a lengthy wait for payment) on credit you are granting.

If you would like to learn more about credit insurance and how it might be useful for your business, I wrote an article about it for the March/April issue of Scrapbook Business magazine that included an interview with Gene Goudy, Senior Vice-President of brokerage firm ARI Global and a well-respected expert on credit insurance. That article is now available online by clicking on the link above and going to page 64-65, or is on page 63 of the print version of the magazine.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: Credit Insurance, Gene Goudy, Junkitz, Scrapbook Business Magazine, Scrapbooking

CK Florida 2005: What I Brought Home

June 10, 2005 By Nancy Nally 7 Comments

Since I shared with you all my intended shopping list, I felt it only fair that I share with you all some of my purchases from CK Florida so you can see how well (or not!) I did with that list. So here’s an overview of some of my new scrapbook goodies from the CK Florida vendor faire!

Bazzill Cardstock: In addition to desperately needed Black and Ivory, I also purchased some of the new trio packs of Bazzill designed to coordinate with Doodlebug Design’s paper line. The colors are bright and cheerful and the criss-cross texture is lovely, different from standard Bazzill.
BasicGrey: I was thrilled to find a vendor carrying the whole BasicGrey line, including the coordinating fibers, tags and letter stickers. Their new CHA introductions are beautiful! I especially love the Black Tie and Lollipop.
Heidi Swapp: Advantus is based in Jacksonville so it would have been disappointing to not find their product. Sure enough, Advantus had a booth with a selection of Heidi’s products and I was able to bring home some ghost letters and shapes as well as some rub-on alphabets and themes.
Michael Miller Memories: This fabric “paper” is absolutely beautiful to look at in person! I limited myself to a few pieces and can’t wait to play with them. The depth and texture of working with such a product offers so many possibilities!
Foam Stamps: I have been learning more lately about how to work with foam stamps and added Making Memories Misunderstood alphabet to my stamp wardrobe.
Edge Scraper: A handy little gadget that I was introduced to in my Making Memories classes, the Making Memories edge scraper comes in their Distressing Kit or can be bought individually for about $4. It is essentially a razor blade in a protective shield and handle so that it can be used on the edges of paper without risk of cutting yourself.
Brads: I can never seem to have enough brads and I added to my stash with some Making Memories ones and some gorgeous Queen & Co. assortments, tiny brads with colorful designs on them.
Bazzill Stencil Letters: Creek Bank Creation’s Office Werks collection of stencil letters are made from Bazzill paper! I picked up a couple of beautiful colors.
And of course, Paper! I picked up a wide selection of brand new patterned papers, including some of the latest KI Memories, My Mind’s Eye Wild Asparagus, Junkitz, and Melissa Frances. The lines are very diverse in style but all gorgeous and really inspiring to contemplate working with!