Speedball is pleased to announce that Ben Lapin has been promoted to President of Speedball Art Products Company. Ben started with Speedball in 1997 as Chief Financial Officer and handled all financial matters during the start-up years. He later took on responsibility for Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service and proved that he was much more than a bean counter. In October 2006, Ben became Chief Operating Officer responsible for all day-to-day activities of Speedball. In the past 12 years Ben has led the integration of several acquisitions while strengthening Speedball’s core business. “Good is never good enough” with Ben; he…
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Celebrations At The Atlanta Distribution Center
Our Distribution Center in Atlanta had a lot to celebrate this month. The AM shift and PM shift overlapped for a special Thanksgiving dinner: The team also threw a baby shower for Selam Mamo, a Shift Order Selector. She is due on December 27th!
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Riley Street San Rafael Celebrates 11 Years
Riley Street Art Supply has locations in San Rafael and Santa Rosa, CA; this month they celebrated 50 years of being in business, with the San Rafael store turning 11 this past June. Both stores celebrated with a two day sale where everything was at least 30% off, and the San Rafael store partnered with vendors to set up outdoor booths with various Make-and-Take activities and demonstrations. Vendor partners included Daniel Smith, Golden, Strathmore, Jacquard, Savoir-Faire, Liquitex and Marabu. The event was a great opportunity to engage with repeat customers as well as passersby who had never even been in the…
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Artisan Expo: The Positive Impact of Workshops
In September, Account Manager Mia Fesmire and Brand Marketing Manager Ariana Faustini represented MacPherson’s exclusive brands at a three-day art supply extravaganza in Santa Fe known as Artisan Expo. The bi-yearly consumer show is sponsored by Artisan Santa Fe, a retailer with locations in both Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Artisan Santa Fe founded Artisan Expo in 2000, and the event has grown over the years to become the largest art materials and instructional event in the world! They host over 100 half-day and full-day workshops led by expert instructors, as well as a vendor trade show where over 80 vendors…
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Happy Halloween from MacPherson’s!
If MacPherson’s has a favorite holiday, it may or may not be the one that involves dressing up, decorating, turning the world upside down and tapping into our imaginative, artsy sides. While delivering creativity is what we do on the clock, we embrace (and express) creativity outside of work too—in fact, for many of us it is the fuel that keeps us going! Halloween is a chance for us to show off this creative spark. Costume Contests We kicked off the day of Halloween with a costume contest. The winners in Emeryville: Jeanine Davids as The Butcher, Ariana Faustini as…
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MacPherson’s Organizational Updates
We are excited to announce a few organizational updates! Please visit our announcements page to read the full letter from our CEO & President, Dave Schofield. John Stephens has transitioned to Director of Marketing, focusing on brand management, category management, creative services and digital experience teams. Neil McIntyre has been promoted to Director of Account Management and he’ll be joining our Senior Leadership Team. He will continue his management of the national field and inside sales teams, in addition to assuming leadership of our customer service team. Jeff Scholz, MacPherson’s Director of IT, will now serve as a member of…
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Community Events: Camp Flax Kidsfest
Every year Flax Art & Design in Oakland, California celebrates summer, art and kids with Kidsfest: a free, fun day of family-friendly arts and crafts. This year’s Kidsfest theme was Camp Flax, which celebrates the great outdoors and the California camping experience: think redwoods, wildlife and scouts. The event features various vendors and community organizations such as The Musem of Children’s Arts and the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design. Staff dress up and the store is transformed into redwood forest where kids and their families can enjoy face painting, a sing-along and dozens of craft activities. Getting The…
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Who’s Who: Preston Arts Center
Who’s Who celebrates a member of our industry community. If you would like to nominate someone, please email us at artdogblog (@) macphersonart.com with their name, position, company and a short description. Kathy Brennan and Don Preston, the owners of Preston Arts Center in Louisville, KY, celebrate owning their family business for 40 years this month. They are major players in the independent world, and they have been able to thrive in a city with major competition. This month, Andrew Preston, Kathy and Don’s son, will be hosting a two hour reception for vendors and their best customers, some of…
