Brian's Blog
December 18th, 2011
Brian's Blog is our way of communicating to you, our valued framing clients (and prospective clients) what we are all about: Picture Framing and Framing-related services. That's all we do. After many years as an art supply and framing company, we decided to focus on the things we do best, move away from artist materials, and evolve into the most innovative, experienced, service-focused picture framer in all of downtown Chicago.
The Good News and The Bad News
I apologize for not having written my December blog earlier, but we have been really busy in our frame shop this month. Here is some goods news, for a change: Chicago's sales tax is going down January 1, 2012. It is going from 9.75% to 9.5%. That may not seem like much, but over a year's time it adds up. It represents $250 for every $10,000 you spend in Cook County over a 12 month period.
The bad news: UPS is raising its rates, on average, about 4.9% according to my latest bill I got from them in the mail. As a result, we will be adjusting ours accordingly on this website. Also, Nielsen Bainbridge will be raising their prices on ready-made frames about 6%, pre-cut mats and many of their mat boards 4%. This will happen on January 16th. So, if you are contemplating purchases of any of these products, you may want to consider the timing of your buy. We will honor all orders at old pricing if the orders are in-house by noon, Friday January 13th.It seems to me that this is well ahead of the rate of inflation, so all I can figure is that the imported frames new pricing reflects currency differences between the Chinese Yuan and the dollar, along with inflation and the cost of energy (for UPS vehicles, health insurance premiums, etc.).
Wizard 9000 CMC
At the end of last month's blog, we talked about coming attractions with respect to our computerized mat cutter (CMC) and some of the cool stuff we can do with it. I had the opportunity, after publishing that, to acquire a brand new updated version of our machine. Our old one, the Model 8500e, is to be packed up shortly and sent back to Wizard International (the manufacturer of the CMC) and is being replaced with the new Model 9000. So, I will be devoting one paragraph, each month in 2012, to one cool thing that the 9000 CMC does that you might find interesting and might want to have us do for you. The new machine has some innovations on the cutting head that we believe will increase our capabilities:
- It has a special cutting head that will let us cut double-thick, 8-ply mats more accurately as well as 3/16" thick foam board with a bevel. The latter item is used a lot with fabric-wrapped mats.
- It has a new, 52 degree angled cutting head that lets us carve letters into the mats more easily than the old, 45 degree head. With a less acute angle, the head can cut tighter curves and doesn't need to be restricted to only larger, blocky letter styles.
- It now has a "pen tool" that will allow us to draw designs on mats. It also has 3 different widths of embossing tools that lets us emboss letters and patterns into mats. Suede and linen mats look especially lovely using this technique.
Also, it has an integrated computer stand attached to the base that lets us make better use of the space around our CMC. There are other small refinements that have been made that may not be of interest to you, but we believe that this will help us be more creative and work faster.
Framing Lead Times
Many first-time customers come in with framing projects and, when told that our lead time is, typically, about 2 weeks for custom framing, seem annoyed or horrified that it should take so long. Here is why:
(1) In-town vendors can take 1-3 days to deliver your frame to us, either chopped (ready to be glued and nailed together) or joined. Out of town vendors can take 7-10 days. Then, we have to actually join the 4 chopped rails with nails and glue to make your frame.
(2) We need to cut the mat boards, glass and prepare any other items to go into your frame, assuming that we have them all on hand and don't have to order them in as well.
(3) There may be 25-50 other frame jobs ahead of yours, with everybody patiently waiting for their turn to come up.
What we do is "just-in-time" light manufacturing, and all the materials have to come together at the right time. If the job has a large number of pieces to it, or requires a complicated procedure, it adds time to the equation. We are a small shop with highly skilled artisans who take pride in what we do. Your art never leaves our shop to go to some large factory warehouse to be dealt with. Please give us the time to do it right.
Most of the time, we try very hard to accomodate your schedule if you are pressed for time or have a small budget to work with. Just tell us up front what your requirements are and not at the end of the consultation. Telling us that it has been sitting on your desk for weeks but now you need it in 2 days does not sit well. You will pay a rush charge for that.
Wilco Plays Chicago and Gives Great Customer Service
Tuesday, December 13th, I went with a friend to see Wilco play here in Chicago. Wilco, for those who do not know them, is a Chicago-based band who have an amazingly large, loyal following. I was not familiar with them until about 3 years ago when this friend took me along to one of their concerts at The Riviera, a converted movie theater that holds live music events here in Chicago. The only reason I mention them, here, (aside from the fact that I had the most enjoyable time of any concert I have been to in many years) is that they reward loyalty. The fans who keep them employed were guaranteed an equal chance to get a ticket. They had scheduled 5 concerts over a 2 week period, with one concert at 5 different venues, not 5 shows at one venue. They used a ticketless system where you could only buy 2 tickets, no paper tickets were issued, and you had to show up with a photo i.d. and the credit card you used to buy the tickets. That way, the scalpers could not buy large blocks and crowd out the rest of the fans. Everyone had a fair shot at tickets.
They played a terrific show with two encores and were very considerate of the audience. They made an effort, as I have later read, to vary the play list at each event so that if a loyal fan, somehow, made it to all 5 concerts, they would be treated to a different mix of songs. Bravo Wilco! You have my undying loyalty. It is producing a superior product and going out of your way to please your patrons that separates the hacks from the artisans. It's what we do here at Flax Art & Frame every day and can only aspire to inspire as Wilco has.
In The New Year
2012 is going to be a crazy year for all of us, especially here in Chicago. I will be attending the West Coast Art and Frame Show in Las Vegas at the end of January and will bring back lots of new moulding designs as well as tools, techniques and eye-popping frame ideas. We will be getting the G8 and NATO Summit Meeting here in Chicago in mid-May. The Chicago Cubs have a new manager, Theo Epstein (formerly manager of the Red Sox), so we may yet see a contender at Wrigley Field. We will be launching some new marketing initiatives, including an updated website. Oh yes: It is an election year, so politics should heat up quite a bit (the Democratic candidate hails from Chicago). I cannot ever remember a time so turbulent since the 1960's during the Vietnam War with so may people angry at their governments. It is tragic, though, that the people of this country have been held hostage to party politics when so many are hurting. Stay tuned!
Having said all that though, I hope that your year has been prosperous or, at the very least, that you haven't lost any ground during this horrific recession. I and my staff here, at Flax Art & Frame, wish you a very happy holiday season and a prosperous 2012!
Blog Archives From 2010 and 2011
The gray sidebar at left shows that we have created a place for all 12 blogs from last year, 2010. That was the first year we began blogging about framing issues. Feel free to check back through them, as we have covered a lot of framing topics that may be of interest to you or may answer some of your questions. In January, 2012, we will be moving all of our 2011 blogs into a new folder at left, so you will have 2 years of blog archives to peruse.
Contact Us
As always, if you have any questions about anything on our website, or would like to make a comment about anything appearing in this blog, simply go to the contact us form and email us. Thanks for visiting.