Comments on: Blue Tulip Files for Bankruptcy Protection http://www.stationersguild.org/news/industry-news/blue-tulip-bankruptcy/ Trends in stationery, wedding invitations, social stationery, baby announcements and holiday cards Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:44:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Richard May http://www.stationersguild.org/news/industry-news/blue-tulip-bankruptcy/comment-page-1/#comment-387 Richard May Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:46:02 +0000 http://www.stationersguild.org/news/?p=442#comment-387 Hi Jeanette. Don't have an easy answer. I believe that Blue Tulip had several proprietary lines that were made for them by third parties. The baby announcement you describe could have come from any number of companies. Stacey Claire Boyd and Sweet Pea come to mind, but I strongly suggest that you use the store locator in the Stationers Guild website to find a store near you that carries baby announcements. Hi Jeanette. Don’t have an easy answer. I believe that Blue Tulip had several proprietary lines that were made for them by third parties. The baby announcement you describe could have come from any number of companies. Stacey Claire Boyd and Sweet Pea come to mind, but I strongly suggest that you use the store locator in the Stationers Guild website to find a store near you that carries baby announcements.

]]> By: Jeanette Fazio http://www.stationersguild.org/news/industry-news/blue-tulip-bankruptcy/comment-page-1/#comment-385 Jeanette Fazio Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:03:41 +0000 http://www.stationersguild.org/news/?p=442#comment-385 I purchased many items from Blue Tulip in the Atlas Park. So sorry to see them go. I admired a baby invitation that I did not need THEN but would love now that my daughter is having a baby. It was a peapot in a bathtub with the shower and I believe a little sparkle in it. I did purchase her engagement invitations and many other things from Blue Tulip. I'm wondering if you can tell me the brand name of these invitations. Thank you. I purchased many items from Blue Tulip in the Atlas Park. So sorry to see them go. I admired a baby invitation that I did not need THEN but would love now that my daughter is having a baby. It was a peapot in a bathtub with the shower and I believe a little sparkle in it. I did purchase her engagement invitations and many other things from Blue Tulip. I’m wondering if you can tell me the brand name of these invitations. Thank you.

]]> By: Alan S. Michaels http://www.stationersguild.org/news/industry-news/blue-tulip-bankruptcy/comment-page-1/#comment-21 Alan S. Michaels Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:21:14 +0000 http://www.stationersguild.org/news/?p=442#comment-21 What a fabulous article; I enjoyed it very much. By reading your comments, you probably own and run a very successful and differentiated premium-service fine stationery store. And you are probably right that in the past investors have not been successful in cloning a successful fine-stationary store model and replicating that store or franchise across a wide geography. At our company, we use Michael E. Porter's ideas and five forces methodology to analysis the top 10,000 industries, including station stores, and we find many similar business models work in totally different industries. Ironically, after reading your article about why a "Staples-model" couldn't work, you might want to reconsider and be the first nationwide fine stationary chain because you nailed the reasons why previous attempts haven't worked. Although your nationwide chain might enjoy some economies of scale in purchasing, your competitive advantage should derive specifically from your ability to "clone the management and entrepreneurship" which you mentioned are the critical success factors. In short, all hiring, training, compensation plans, and everything else should reinforce the unique differentiated experience you probably provide now. Cheers, Alan S. Michaels, President, eCompetitors.com What a fabulous article; I enjoyed it very much.

By reading your comments, you probably own and run a very successful and differentiated premium-service fine stationery store. And you are probably right that in the past investors have not been successful in cloning a successful fine-stationary store model and replicating that store or franchise across a wide geography.

At our company, we use Michael E. Porter’s ideas and five forces methodology to analysis the top 10,000 industries, including station stores, and we find many similar business models work in totally different industries.

Ironically, after reading your article about why a “Staples-model” couldn’t work, you might want to reconsider and be the first nationwide fine stationary chain because you nailed the reasons why previous attempts haven’t worked. Although your nationwide chain might enjoy some economies of scale in purchasing, your competitive advantage should derive specifically from your ability to “clone the management and entrepreneurship” which you mentioned are the critical success factors. In short, all hiring, training, compensation plans, and everything else should reinforce the unique differentiated experience you probably provide now.

Cheers,
Alan S. Michaels, President, eCompetitors.com

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