Creative Memories Bankruptcy

This may be old news to some, but one of the stories I wanted to cover was the bankruptcy of the scrapbook company Creative Memories. This is old news by now (the news hit in November 2008), but the fallout continues.

Disclaimer: one of the companies I used to be a Home Party Consultant for was Creative Memories. I didn't have the best experience with them towards the end of my time with them. I'm fully aware that this will cloud my articles about this company. You've been warned!

This November 2008 article from Minnesota Public Radio gives an overview from the company's point of view. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

This November 2008 article from the Scrapbook Update blog (a great blog about scrapbooking news) talks about "Key Points" of the bankruptcy. At the end of the article, there is a list of several other articles about the bankruptcy.

Now read this January 2010 article from the Yellow Springs News. There is much more to this story. A group of former employees has filed a lawsuit against Creative Memories company leaders. The article is long, but worth reading if you really want to know more. The group claims that actions by company leaders caused the bankruptcy, which led to the loss of employee retirement funds, to the tune of over $20 million.

Yikes!

Creative Memories was one of those companies that people (Home Office employees and Home Party Consultants alike), felt good working for. I wasn't the only one who felt "good" trying to help people to preserve their memories in scrapbooks. Increased competition from online and brick-and-mortar stores, a move away from my large group of core customers, and company decisions made post-2007 led to my exit. I am less than impressed by this bankruptcy and the news about the employee lawsuit. I'm disgusted that so many employees lost retirement funds.

What does this mean for the future of Creative Memories? Who knows. Some of you may not have even heard about the bankruptcy at all. The company keeps plugging along here in 2010. You can still buy their scrapbook products from a local Consultant, although their Consultant base is shrinking. I will post updates when something else comes up; I'm betting there will be more to come.

Has anyone dealt with Creative Memories, either as a Consultant, a Home Office employee, or a customer? What do you think of the bankruptcy?

New Content Coming Soon

Hello All!

I realize that it has been since December '09 since I've posted...the thing is, I kind of ran out of stories. (eeeek!) I may be able to dig up a few more, but I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I'm going to change the direction of the blog a bit.

First, I'm still going to collect amusing/strange/weird Home Party stories, so keep 'em coming if you got 'em. See my email address to the right.

I am going to continue to talk about Home Parties, but in a different way. There have been some businesses that have gone bankrupt, of course....I'd like to talk about that, and how they are surviving (or not). Despite the economy, some new Home Party businesses are popping up. This surprises me, and I'd like to talk about it. I had thought the era of the "Home Party" was coming to a close.

I have a lot of topics I'd like to cover about Home Party businesses, so watch in the next week for some updates. I hope you'll stick with me.

- The Calamity Queen

What's That on the Wall?!

I had two friends who were getting married, and since we have an interesting sense of humor, I decided to throw them a tea party/sex toy party as their bachelorette party. We were having a good time, and the woman was showing us some things when she pulled out a somewhat large purple dildo that had a suction cup at the end. She licked her hand, smeared it on the suction cup, and smacked that thing on my wall. She was telling us how great this product was (Mr. Dependable, if I remember correctly) and easily removable and all that great stuff.

So she leaves it up on the wall. I don't think anything of it, really. I would say like, 10-15 minutes later, she pulls Mr. Dependable off the wall and…there is a HUGE circle mark on my wall. It ripped the paint off! My friends are all gasping, she says, 'Wow, that's never happened before.' I live in an apartment! These aren't my walls and now they have a huge, dildo circle on them! Everyone is saying things like, 'you won't notice it' and all that stuff.

I didn't say anything to her because it wasn't a HUGE deal and we go about our business and she leaves. My husband gets home and looks at the wall and says…'What's that?' Of course, I must then launch into the story. Not only do I need to tell my husband the story, but quite a few people notice this on the wall.

We moved out about a month ago and, before we left, we stuck a remote control holder for the ceiling fan over it so that we wouldn't have to explain it to the landlord. If we'd had the right paint, I would have covered it up, but I guess a control holder will work just as well.

- D. H., New York

And Now For Something Completely Different...

I've been working on a new blog, totally unrelated to this one... it's about recipes, home renovations, decorating, planning for holidays, etc etc.

www.handymancraftywoman.com

Since this is my blog and I can post whatever I want on it, I'm giving my other blog a Shameless Plug here!! :-)

Don't worry, I'll still post great stories on here as I get them; but I'm at the mercy of readers as to when I can post here...I can only post here when people write in with material, so keep sending in stories! The Holidays are quickly approaching, and Consultants from all different companies are revving up to try to sell their wares at various Open Houses and events...this season is ripe for new Consultant Calamity stories!

New story coming soon...

The Calamity Queen

With Friends Like That...

When my husband landed his first job after graduate school, we had to move to a new city where we knew no one. I had trouble finding a job and making friends, and I was miserable. I joined a networking group for young women and started attending meetings, hoping to get job leads and meet people. One night, I sat next to a very pretty blond girl, and we chatted all night and made plans to meet at the mall the next week. We had a great time walking around, talking, having lunch, and she asked me if I wanted to come over to her house that weekend for a makeover. Sure!

I showed up to her house, and it was a one-woman Mary Kay party. She was a new Consultant and had taken me on as a "project". There was no conversation, no friendliness, just point blank discussion of how to cover my faults with her make-up and what weird hands and feet I had. I was at her kitchen table, being told how to apply eyeshadow like an idiot child, when her husband walked in with their dogs and had a conversation with her about dinner, totally ignoring me. She didn't even introduce us.

At the end, she said, "So is this the best you've ever looked?" I tried to be polite, and said, "It looks great." And she said, "Well, if you get everything I showed you tonight, which I recommend, it'll be $212, and here's how to make out the check."

I was floored but still trying to salvage what I thought was a possible friendship. "I don't mind buying a few things, because I'm glad to help support you, but I really just came over tonight to hang out with a new friend."

Her answer? "That's great for you, but how does it help my bottom line?"

She should have kept up the chummy salesmanship just a few hours longer. I was out of there with nothing.

- D.D., Georgia

The Secret is in the Sauce!

Hello everyone!

I was away for the weekend of October 23-25th, and when I came back, I was surprised to see that my site counter had gone up a significant amount, plus I had TONS of new comments. :-)

At first, I thought it was spam...! But then I realized that this surge of comments is all thanks to a cool site called The Secret is in the Sauce. They feature a woman blogger, and urge their members to go and put lots of comments on the site, and to revisit the site often if they like it. I have also noticed some new "followers!" What a wonderful surprise! I am so excited and thankful that they came by!

So if you read all the comments and see "Happy SITS Day", it means just "SURPRISE" and HELLO from the SITS site (Secret is in the Sauce.)

Go on over and check out some cool featured women bloggers, the bloggers featured have content of all types.

Thank you, SITS, and I will come and check out more of your featured blogs myself!

Remember, I need more stories to keep the fun going, so keep 'em coming!

- Calamity Queen

What Kind of Party IS This, Anyway?!?!

Several years ago, I hosted a kitchen tools party (Pampered Chef). The consultant suggested I make it a couples party and so I invited several people from my neighborhood. A few of the guys were game and they showed up with their wives. My husband greeted everyone at the door, handed the guys a beer and said, "Come in!"

The Consultant had a great spread in my living room. Two full tables of items to show and lots of food which had been prepared or was ready to prepare.

One of the husbands (a big, burly, Harley-riding, fighter pilot) came over and wouldn't come in the door. He said he was just there to deliver his wife and his mother to the party. However, he peeked inside and when he saw all the food and kitchen gadgets, his jaw dropped. He took a chair right up front!

He became the life of the party. Well....let's say the party took a different turn because every time the consultant pulled out a tool, he spelled out another use for it. An R-rated use. Fortunately, we were all friends and so no one was totally embarrassed. The Consultant was a great sport and pressed on with her demo.

This item became a personal massager:

When the rep described one item as the "Master Scraper" he said, "WHAT DID YOU SAY??!!!

The group was in stitches as the Consultant continued her demo. By the time she got to this item, she didn't have to say a word. She just held it up and the group busted out hysterically.

The show was a huge success and sales were over $1200. And you can guess which guy bought the most!

- Anonymous