Been a While

Well it’s been sometime since I wrote and ill tell you it has been crazy busy. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I have been spending time working on new projects; some of which I would prefer not to work on. This New Year is ramping up to be very exciting and we will be announcing some big news for Artisan mid December.
My holiday weekend started off great when I received a customer inquiry about our products from an Interior designer. I always like to find out how they heard about the company and she stated and I quote "I have been very pleased with the sink I have in my home, the performance and quality of it ...happen to be an Artisan. I moved to New Jersey from Oklahoma City about a year ago and have started over with my regional network and sales people.
That's where I am.
Thanks for your help.
Have a great day!

When I read things like this I know we are doing things right although many times it’s tough to see the light. As more independent tests are done on our competitors we find that more and more stainless is entering this country SUB PAR (not even 304). The Canadian government has decided to look into this matter and possibly impose a tariff on stainless sinks. This makes me somewhat happy but disheartened at the same time. Why should companies that conduct business properly be lumped in with the ones that are trying to pull the wool over peoples eyes? Well we will find out the outcome of this inquiry by months end. Artisan has cooperated and sent them all that we know; hopefully the US can follow and put an end to the infiltration of the less than quality products entering this country. Well hopefully I will update sooner than later this time...

Let it snow..let it snow...NO !

This weekend came with a bang. A snow storm hit that nobody thought would really come; well it did. Mother Nature wreaked havoc on NJ dumping 8 + inches of wet snow on the state. This typically isn’t an issue but the fact that the trees still have most of their leaves presents a problem. The heavy snow dropped many trees leaving over 600000+ without power. I would be one of the lucky ones without power…4 days in and still nothing.
This gave a new sense to the words family time, with no TV, no running water, no way to cook except BBQ and no lights. A Saturday and Sunday night Pictionary rivalry kept the family spirit moving along. It’s tough times like these that bring a family closer together and make memories for the next time something gets tough that you think you can’t get through. The same holds true for business in this economy. Though things may be tough in parts of the country, once we all make it through we can remember this the next time things are tough.
As I see help coming in from other states to aid NJ in getting power back I see the partnerships these utility companies have made. Keep in mind during this economy to BUILD your partnerships. Building the right partnerships for the long term will grow business in the future whereas choosing a company for the wrong reasons will only hurt.

I hope everyone that is affected by this storm is well and wish everyone the best of luck in getting back to normal.