New LION Trade catalogue, No 45

[Martin Harrold]

The new LION Trade catalogue, No 45, will be published on Feb 1, the first day of the Spring Fair International, at the NEC, Birmingham. Lion will again be in Hall 12 and we look forward to talking with you and showing you some new products and ideas there.

The new Fine Print catalogue, Edition 7, has recently been published. During early February, both catalogues will be mailed to any framer who has dealt with us in the past two years.

If you visit www.lionpic.co.uk you'll be able to view both catalogues on 'page-turning' software as soon as they are posted in early February.

If you don't get one in the mail and you'd like one, you only have to ask!

[Moglet]

Looking forward to getting my copies...

Wishing Lion a very successful Show!

[Cathy]

Hi there,
I go to lion on a regular basis (the staff are wonderfully freindly) & very helpful,
however the prices in the lion mouldings edition 10 have all gone up by 8% from the 1st march just after i had finished pricing my samples now i have to do them all again.
we all know that world prices have changed dramatically & our suppliers have been doing their best, but sudden price rises make it harder especialy if a quote has already been given

[Jonny2morsos]

With all respect to Lion and I do buy some moulding from them why do you go to Birmingham when you have Arqadia in the same town as yourself who also have a trade counter?

John.

[Roboframer]

Arqadia are not in Northampton, they are in Bedford, well, Kempston, which is way on the outskirts of Bedford.

Still, way closer to Northampton than Birmingham and if it's mouldings you're after ...............

[Cathy]

I use arquadia as well as other good suppliers, but i pick up all sorts of other things like stuff from the chinese supermarkets etc when I go

[Keith Hewitt]

Cathy,

I totally understand you annoyance with price increases.

Below is something I wrote in answer to a similar question on another thread,
=======================================================================
The GBP has fallen 50% against the USD in the last year, and 25% against the Euro.
So as most of the machinery and mouldings are bought either from Europe in Euros or from USA and Asia in USD or Euros - prices are sure to rise - or the distributors will simply go out of biz.
=======================================================================

I would hazard a guess that most distributors have absorbed some of the price increases that have hit them, so an increase of 8% is in fact more than reasonable.

It would nice to hear from a few of the distributors the true impact of the falling pound/rising dollar to their costs of mdg. Then the framers may better understand why the distribs are stuck between a rock and a hard place !

[Martin Harrold]

Keith is right, we, like most other distributors have only put up prices by the absolute minimum - moulding is an extremely competitive market place. Options to re-source from less costly suppliers are limited, especially if quality is to be maintained.

The good news is that it seems that framers can anticipate that the recent round of increases, almost all due to currency issues, is hopefully the last for quite a while. The GB£ is now a tiny bit stronger against the US$ or the euro than it was in December, but that may be a bit of a mirage. Fact is that all currencies are weak just now, for obvious reasons, and from time to time, some are less weak than others.

Lots of people are losing their jobs, which is very sad for them. But, still, most people have jobs and if they have a mortgage, then their interest charge is currently much less each month and in fact many such people are feeling better off. There is a natural tendency in difficult times to pay down loans and shop cheaper, which actually bodes well for the future, if you think about it. But, with many people reluctant to incur the risk and expense of embarking on a move up the property ladder, there appears to be a tendency for people to modestly refresh their existing homes. I've heard several reports of B&Q car parks being full to overflowing on Easter Monday. Certainly, there is a feeling amongst many framers we've spoken to that business is a bit better than they might expect.

For those that rent shop premises, there are indications that the constant upwards pressure on rents is easing. And rent, after staff costs, is generally the major overhead cost for a framer. Looking down some high streets, there do appear to be more empty properties, which may encourage more frame shops and galleries to consider returning to the high street. Yes, such a move would be a big step for anyone, and would need a lot of careful budgeting and planning but it's probably more feasible now than it has been for many years.

There is a softening of the traditional divisions between art and framing and the the photographic trade. If you are near one, go and take a look at a Snappy Snaps shop. Some of those are offering more and more framing and mounting related services and have pretty snappy (sorry about the pun) marketing. A frame shop can fight back the other way. Small dye-sub photo printers, which work dry and with no chemicals, can be installed for less than £2000. Once set up with some equipment like that, a framer would be in a position to attract a whole new customer stream.

Yes, materials costs for framers have had a bit of a jump in the past six months. But, a positive response is to accept it, re-price, and plan to upgrade your marketing efforts to demonstrate to existing and prospective customers that your skill, experience and creativity can create stylish framed art and artefacts to enhance and refresh their homes and offices.

[Cathy]

It is understood why prices have risen & on the whole I am not really complaining about the price, More the time it has taken to change the prices on all of my samples in one hit (6hours) after closing time.
I am finding that people can still afford quality framing & in fact my sales of speciality glass & better quality mouldings have increased & customers are mostly ignoring the lower end of my range,
i am overall pleased that buisness is better than I anticipated in the present financial climate & am slightly more optimistic about the future

[Moglet]

Yes, materials costs for framers have had a bit of a jump in the past six months. But, a positive response is to accept it, re-price, ...

Not so easy in the current Irish market. I'd say that I'm in the same boat as a lot of framers in that we, too, are caught between a rock and a hard place: increased materials costs, and increasing numbers of customers looking to get summat for nowt. It was hard enough dealing with requests for discount prior to the recession.

[Jonny2morsos]

Cathy if you are concerned about costs then should you not do your shopping with Lion online? Taking into account your travelling time and fuel the cost of your purchases increases still further.

I wanted to update my pricing system a while ago so I emailed Lion requesting a copy of their new prices in MS Excel format and got it back within minutes and probably had it all on my system within a hour of making the request. That's good customer service!

john.

[Moglet]

I wanted to update my pricing system a while ago so I emailed Lion requesting a copy of their new prices in MS Excel format and got it back within minutes and probably had it all on my system within a hour of making the request. That's good customer service!

Great tip, John! I didn't realise that Lion offered the service.

[Martin Harrold]

Yes. We can supply all price and spec info on a spreadsheet, so just ask. In fact, it occurs to me that we should establish a log of users and arrange to send out the updated file on some regular basis. We also have digital pics of all the mouldings, available in various formats. We'll also shortly have digital scans of all the Colourmount board colours available as well.

If there is something else you think we can help you with in that line just contact us. We'll always do our best. Lee is the best contact; lee@lionpic.co.uk

[WelshFramer]

You're hiding your light under a bushel, Martin!

I'm off to email Lee for some moulding pics and prices.

[Cathy]

Usually when I go to lion I am also picking up mountcard & foamcore boards as well as small but heavy items like mitre wedges etc that are awkward to send, if just mouldings are required then I can phone & order that way but shall give the online method a try,
Thanks for all your helpful advice

[The Crofter]

Yes. We can supply all price and spec info on a spreadsheet, so just ask. In fact, it occurs to me that we should establish a log of users and arrange to send out the updated file on some regular basis. We also have digital pics of all the mouldings, available in various formats. We'll also shortly have digital scans of all the Colourmount board colours available as well.

Martin, I did ask for this info at the show (remember that bleak thursday!) but never heard anything. I will send another request to Lee this weekend.

[Martin Harrold]

Sorry - I guess we are not perfect. Please re-send to: lee@lionpic.co.uk.