CK at Jo-Ann's and a little backpeddling...

When the new Creating Keepsakes-brand line of scrapbook products debuted at Jo-Ann's this summer, I thought they (CK) were crazy. Their line was a bunch of knock-offs from other companies. As I looked at the products, I could see a little of "this" company and a little of "that" company. I though to myself - "this is so weird that they would dare to tick-off manufacturers who advertise with them..."

Shortly after that, there was some noise about some other name being on the products and that a sticker with the Creating Keepsakes name was being placed over that other name (scrapbook something - I can't remember what it was).

Well, yesterday, in an industry trade magazine, Mike Hartnett of the Creative Leisure News wrote about it further:

"Jo-Ann's line of scrapbook products that appears to be under the brand name of CREATING KEEPSAKES magazine is not quite as it seems. Dave O'Neill, VP/Group Publisher of Primedia, the publisher of Creating Keepsakes and other industry magazines, explained: 'There was a mistake made in the execution of a Creating Keepsakes licensing program that resulted in the products being released to Jo-Ann's that appear to be produced by Creating Keepsakes. We regret this mistake, are taking immediate actions to ensure it is not repeated, and apologize to our industry partners for any consumer confusion this may temporarily cause.'"

I bet they apologize and I bet they regret it. I would imagine that those companies who had their product line knocked-off were livid to see "their" stuff in Jo-Ann's under the CK BRAND name. It sounds like back-peddling to me.

Of course, the Jo-Ann's ad in my Sunday paper had Creating Keepsakes brand stuff on sale... So, they regret it, but someone signed a contract so they also have to honor it. Man, I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for THAT conversation...