TruVue Sell Out

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William Ross

CGF, Certified Grumble Framer
Joined
Oct 30, 1999
Posts
173
Loc
costa Mesa, Ca, USA
TruVue has sold the independent framers out.

If you have a "big Box Framer" --Aaron Brothers near you then you have seen their ad's for conservation glass at regular glass prices. Having an Aaron Brothers near us for thirty five years I can tell you they don't give anything away, so how can they sell conservation glass for less then regular glass prices.

The answer is very simple. TruVue set them up as a direct dealer and is selling at pallet cost. Yes! they are now glass dealers. A customer came into out shop with a 20 x 24 sheet priced at $13.50 for us to install in their frame. Will you sell TruVue conservation glass for this price?

Why do I think TruVue sold us out? The answer is greed. They don't care about us after we have done our duty. We the independent framers built the market for them with the framing public and now that there is a demand for the products they are undercutting us.

What can we do?
Do you have an answer or product we can use? There must be some glass company who puts they customers first.
 
The bottom line is what counts in ALL business. If you do the math, number of Aaron Brothers stores, volume of product moved, etc. etc. You will see that no C.E.O. in his right mind would say no to a customer like that. Tru Vue is just like us, they have rents to pay, payrole to meet, taxes and so on. I know darn well if any one of us worked at Tru Vue, we ould be pleased as heck having Aaron Bros. as an account.

I have railed at big businesses myself, Bainbridge is my favorite company to try and not do business with. They like to play musical product, discontinue, is the name of their game. I do not carry Bainbridge mat boards. I even called for a boycott of their boards on The Grumble, yet amazingly, they remain in business.

We could all start a boycot of Tru Vue products. Somehow, I think the results would be the same.

The only thing, we as independent framers can do to compete with the big box purchasing power is GIVE BETTER SERVICE AND PRODUCT! And in most cases, that is exactly what we do.

William, look where the customer came to have the glass installed, Aaron brothers does fitting, do they not? I would hope you charged your normal fitting charge to the customer. My fitting charge on that size is around $25.00 ( I'm at home now,so I don't have the price list here).

So, in reality, Aaron Brothers purchasing clout, brought another customer into YOUR store.

I have always maintained, if you have a big box near you, your business will improve. They just flat can't give the service we can.

John
 
I sometimes run into the same thing with regular glass. A few customers will go to the glass shop a mile away and buy the glass and bring it to me to fit in their frame. (I can't/won't compete with a glass shop on prices.) I'm okay with that as long as they bring it to me to fit in their frame. I do have a fitting surcharge if the glass is powder-packed or otherwise involves extra cleaning time.

As far as non-Tru Vue products go, I've just finished fitting 17 pieces with Cyro Acrylite Acrylic. I used it, for the first time, because the prints are valuable and will be hanging in a very public building under flourescent lights. It's scratch resistant, UV filtering and the thickness I used cuts with one pass on my Fletcher 3000. Even in 4x8 ft sheets, it's a joy to work with. I'm considering making this product my "go-to" glazing for all conservation framing. It's expensive, but nobody's going to find it at the hobby shops or the glass shops around here.
 
According to LJ catalog the cost of a 20x24 UV lite is $4.76 (at list). That would yield a 35% cost of goods at $13.50 retail. And with a $25.00 fitting charge, as suggested, I'm not sure we ought to be decrying greed on AB's part. With a target goal of 30% CoG, this example clearly exceeds that amount.

For the record we sell the same lite including the fitting fee for $34.00. Maybe I need to increase my greed factor and go up. It looks like that's what the market will bear. It sure looks like Aaron Bros could learn something from this.
 
Larson Juhl suggested retail for a 20 x 24 is $22.35, because they know you can not work on 35% when it comes to glass.

I still maintain that the market for conservation products was developed by the independent picture framers. TruVue could not make it if their only customer were the "big boxs", (which pay the discounted dollars)---they need our full priced dollar. We cut from 36 x 48 & 40 x 60 to get our best usage, but we still have almost 20% that can not be used.
 
I know that this is off topic, but what's the policy that lets clients bring in supplies from other stores? I can see reusing glazing on a remat, even a reframe, but to have them bring in the glass from another store because the price was better doesn't fly here. I often suggest that replacing the glass would actually be less expensive if the cleaning involves razor blades and amonia.
Even restaurants charge a fee when you bring in you own wine.
I have a surcharge that pretty much equals my profit margin on any client supplied "new" materials. After all, I still have to pay the overhead, take the risks in handling, replace if broken, and then deal with these folks.
I had a client last year that wanted OP-3 acrylic on their vintage French poster. I gave them a price with a breakdown on the glazing, since they were considering using standard acrylic. They did the math, went to a BB and priced the OP-3, came back and wanted to have the other store supply that product. I said fine, but there would be a $50 transportation fee from the BB to me, a handling fee for cutting, cleaning etc..., and a surcharge for providing their own product (to cover my overhead). They protested, and I was quick, and polite, to point out that they could save these charges by having the BB do their framing. "Oh my! No way! We want you to do it."

So what John says plays true. The fact that someone else can buy at a lower cost shouldn't effect your business. If you are afraid of the dilution of your business from a BB, you should take the next step up from where they are.
 
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by wpfay:
.......Even restaurants charge a fee when you bring in your own wine.<hr></blockquote>


Cool........a "Corking" charge for when people bring in their own glass!
 
While I have strongly disagreed with the poor business practice of Tru-Vue in the past, I believe that this is a sound and justified business deal they have made.
A 35% COG is not too bad in my humble opinion, with some of the items we sell through here we consider ourselves lucky to get in at less than 90% COG, go figure. Who gets to charge the fitting fee? consider yourself lucky and take the opportunity to upsell and add-on other products and impart some knowledge that will make the customer come back. This is obviously a shift in market pricing and I would suggest that you do your best to keep in-line with market pricing, if you do a better job (by the sound of it this goes without saying) then increase your labour rate, if necessary take projections from previous years glass sales and use this for the the addition to your base rate. AB is a customer to Tru-Vue, if they buy bulk quantities of course they'll get a better price, that is not new news to anyone.
The single biggest concern I would have would be the likelyhood of the customer scratching the glass between the two shops and blaming you once the work is complete, maybe an "inspection fee" could cover this? (The code on your computer could be "cork" if you like John)
 
What Aaron Bros can do for you with this offer is increase customer awareness on conservation products. There is more to conservation framing than museum mats and conservation glass. Museum mounting and fitting are also an important part of the framing package, and often downgraded, improperly done, or not done at all, even by framers who consider themselves good framers. One of the problems of this business is the perceived value by the framer of the item the customer has brought in to be framed. I approach every item brought in to me as something the customer wants to keep for a long time, whether it be a child's drawing, a diploma, or an original work of art. Everyone is sold a preservation package. Rarely does anyone question the price. An exception I will make is mounting. I will dry mount a poster to foam-core, but they are still sold conservation glass. I got off on a tangent. The point I wanted to make is not everyone buys at an Aaron Bros. or Michaels. If they do manage to make people more aware of preservation, that can only be to our advantage. Just go beyond what they do, and do it better. Make sure the customer knows you do correct mounting and fitting to go along with the mats and glass. You will sound knowledgeable, and will gain your customers trust and respect. When you gain your customers trust and respect, they become easier to sell and so on.
 
Remember this about the big boxes.

Their advertising gets the people into their stores.

Their attitude gets the people into our stores.

:D

John
 
I'm curious, do any grumblers shop big box stores or do you shop local stores for supplies, clothing, food, household goods, lumber, etc.

Sincerely,
Jack Bingham, CPF
 
Jack:

most food is bought at a big box; unless Iwant a special cut, then it's to a butcher (custom made)

dress shirts and bow ties are bought at a locally owned store because the ties are custom made and he also custom tailors my sport coats. Other clothing comes from Penny's, Sears, etc.

Lumber for my boat is from a local importer who gets the exotic woods i'm using. He also knows how to custom cut what I need. Other hardware comes from big box Home Depot

CDs mostly are from big box Amazon; some of my blues and jazz are from tiny "custom producers" companies in Mississippi or Alabama.

Point is: life is full of buying choices, some coming from "big box" and some from your local, custom made providers.

same for framing, I suppose
 
I don't drive so just about all my shopping is in local stores. I sometimes will get rides to Home Depot and other big boxes from friends.

Last night a friend took me to K-Mart. That has got to be one of the worst stores I have ever been in. I know they are in chapter 11, but they arn't even trying to look like a store. Whole departments where almost empty, floors filthy. The merchandise they did have looked like they purchased it from a 99 cent store. I did buy a few things though, some DVDs some plastic dishes for my animals, two work shirts. The store we were in was not one of the ones slated for closing.

John
 
Jack, I don't like discount stores like K-Mart, Wal-Mart, and especially dislike warehouse stores like Home Depot. I like clean, quiet, warm in winter, cool in summer stores, and if I pay a little more, so be it. I buy from my customers whenever possible, and support all the local, small businesses I can. There are a few catalogs I like to buy from. What I buy from catalogs I can't find in stores. I'll tell you what. If everyone shopped like I do, the BB's would be out of business in no time. I don't like them, and I don't support them.
 
I agree with Pamela: I myself have never been in a Home Depot, I was in Wallmart once when they first opened, I loath huge supermarkets (and I am very fortunate to have a great small grocery store across from my shop and also another one about a mile away from my home). I have two favorite hardware stores, one in the US and one in Canada (where I live) and its like Cheers - "where everyone knows your name." My US hardware store is particularly terrific: maybe I pay more, but they help me with every problem (and I am always hunting for "something").

I also shop my small local lumber yard, and the smallest drug-store (which is a half-block from my shop). I buy art supplies at the locally-owned store. I haven't been in a KMart in decades and I have never darkened the door of Target. I even try to buy as many office supplies as I can find at my little local guy in Canada (because he gives me great advice!).

I buy used books and used clothing for the most part (and if I had a million dollars I do not think I would change anything) and I buy music from the artists whenever possible.

I am old enough to remember the huge DIY scare of the seventies. People went in droves to DIY frame shops. Then they realized that it took too much of their time and that we could do it better and that their time was valuable. I think the BB frame shops are training our future customers for us, and we just have to be ready to snag them. This is where marketing and national promotion would be helpful.

Maybe I am living in a fool's paradise, but I am not worried. I have enough for my needs.
smiley.gif
 
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Framar:
I think the BB frame shops are training our future customers for us, and we just have to be ready to snag them. This is where marketing and national promotion would be helpful.

Maybe I am living in a fool's paradise, but I am not worried. I have enough for my needs.
smiley.gif
<hr></blockquote>

Mar, I feel the same way. We get a lot of the BB's customers, and they keep coming back, which tells me they're getting more value with us. As long as they're happy and keep coming back, we, and I mean all us framers, are doing what the customers like. The rest is inevitable.
 
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Framar:
I myself have never been in a Home Depot <hr></blockquote>

We have several large building centers in our area. Most of them are staffed by people who either don't know or don't care. A favorite game of mine is to ask a clerk where to find a particular item. (They move them around continuously - the items and the clerks.) Usually the clerk says, "Oh we don't carry that." Which actually means, "I was working at a Taco Bell yesterday and I have no idea what you're talking about." So I find the item on my own and I always bring it back to the clerk and say, "If anyone else is looking for one of these, they're in aisle 12."

Home Depot, for some reason, is different. If I ask for help from anyone in any department, they drop what they're doing, walk me to the item I'm looking for and see if I have any questions about it. If they can't answer, they find someone who can. I've had this experience repeated so many times in both of our Appleton Home Depots that I'm sure it must be a company policy. Their prices are incrementally higher than the no-service centers and I assume they must pay a living wage, since many of their employees appear to be building professionals.

"Big Box" doesn't always mean "no customer service." Sure we can learn from them about marketing ourselves. But heaven help us if they ever start learning from us (or from Home Depot) about customer service and expertise.
 
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