Topic: Steuben Glass

[Carolyn Preston]

A flying trip, but I saw this headline and knew you all would be interested.

http://www.mytelus.com/ncp_news/article.en.do?pn=arts&articleID=2883318

Talk to you later.

Carolyn

[Frank]

Amusing that the CFO of a glass corporation is called Flaws. Not something Steuben are known for! So the luxury end of the Glass market is contracting. Don't they realise that flaws are bad news for glass 

I suppose they will end up selling the brand to join the ranks of the meaningless names that are so popular on the waistbands of underwear

[krsilber]

What a shame!  I can't say I'm terribly surprised, though.  I watched the factory in action when I visited the Corning Museum of Glass last spring, and there wasn't a whole lot going on.

"It appears that it's just not a fashionable product anymore" and that "it's gotten to the end of the generation it appeals to" - this seems like a common refrain in the glass market these days.

[Frank]

The last time that happened new designers came in or other countries took the lead. Embracing change is always hard and always risky. Perhaps the management just lost the initiative. A naïve hope but wouldn't it be nice if the brand was sold to a group of glassmakers based on originality of business plan rather than just to realise a corporate asset. Cornings shares would take a hit but they would recover and the Steuben brand could meaningfully lead to new directions again.