Sheaffer ---> At Cross

[jar]

Remember Textron?

[RMN]

Remember Textron?

No, doesn't ring a bell..

 

Care to expand on that, Jar?

 

 

D.ick

[blINK]

No, doesn't ring a bell..

 

Care to expand on that, Jar?

 

 

D.ick

It's a company based in providence that is parent to Bell Helicopter, Cessna, EZGO golf carts and many other things. To my knowledge, they are still operating.

[Jerry Adair]

Textron is a monster Rhode Island holding company that started life in the fabric business now all divested. At one time they owned Sheaffers it was not a bad partnership. Textron coupled them with Eaton a natural pairing. Textrons companys include Bell Hellicopter, EZ Go golf carts Gorham Silver, Cessna aircraft, Jacobsen lawn mowers. Sales $12.3 BN USD. When I lived in Providence they were a big force in the community. Been gone now for more than 20 years so can't speak to their impact now. Textron spun Sheaffer off on my birthday Sept 1st, 1987

Jerry

[blINK]

I totally forgot about Sheaffer and Textron. That was back when they were bundled with Eaton paper. Wow. Memories and funny how things come full circle.

[Hardcase]

The PR flack for Cross said this:

 

“Acquiring Sheaffer will further A. T. Cross Company’s goal of becoming the leading provider of fine writing instruments. We believe that leveraging existing A. T. Cross Company global marketing, selling and manufacturing expertise by adding a second authentic, American fine writing instrument brand to our portfolio, will create a combined company that is well positioned to be the worldwide leader in the design, marketing and sale of premium high-quality writing instruments.

 

“Additionally, the combined strength of the Cross and Sheaffer brands will allow us to better invest in, and grow, the overall fine writing category."

 

There's a little buzzword bingo in there, so take it for what it is.

 

-Drew

[KBeezie]

The PR flack for Cross said this:

 

“Acquiring Sheaffer will further A. T. Cross Company’s goal of becoming the leading provider of fine writing instruments. We believe that leveraging existing A. T. Cross Company global marketing, selling and manufacturing expertise by adding a second authentic, American fine writing instrument brand to our portfolio, will create a combined company that is well positioned to be the worldwide leader in the design, marketing and sale of premium high-quality writing instruments.

 

“Additionally, the combined strength of the Cross and Sheaffer brands will allow us to better invest in, and grow, the overall fine writing category."

 

There's a little buzzword bingo in there, so take it for what it is.

 

-Drew

 

Hopefully they're not limiting the definition of "Fine" to the price tag.

[kpyeoman]

Well Clarion is a private equity firm which is very different from Bic which is a stationary conglomerate. I highly doubt anything good will come out of this acquisition. They will probably continue milking the low end pens that have been successful like the 100 and 300. The future of the inlaid nib seems to be in jeopardy from my point of view. I really hope I'm wrong.

 

This is spot on. With the discontinuation of the Valor, I'm not sure I have a lot of hope for the LH, especially given that it's been produced for almost two decades now. I could see them discontinuing this pen as well (especially given the more complex production and Bock manufacture) and focussing more on products like the Taranis...overpriced, sub-par (from the reviews I've read) steel nibbed pens that focus more on "whiz-bang" attributes than the writing experience. However, if Sheaffer produced a nice pen with a gold open nib at a decent price, that might be interesting...ish.

[perth]

They're selling 14K nibbed Preludes here. Sheaffer's offerings seem to vary a lot from region to region.

[pajaro]

With a bit of luck, this might amount to a hill of beans.

[79spitfire]

Eh....

 

Could be depressing, could be encouraging...

[johntdavis]

It wouldn't make much sense to buy Sheaffer for the brand recognition and then obliterate everything that makes the Sheaffer brand recognizable. So, I don't expect Cross to completely wipe out all the existing stylings, or the inlaid nibs on Sheaffer-branded pens. Thus, I also wouldn't expect Sheaffer design elements to move over to Cross-branded pens or vice versa, unless it's some sort of utilitarian design element that actually makes the pen work better. Purely cosmetic elements would remain linked to their brands for differentiation purposes.

 

I'm actually pretty optimistic about this, until I'm given a reason not to be. I suspect Cross will remain the luxury brand, for things like Sterling silver Townsends--of which I am a happy owner. Sheaffer will likely remain a more entry-level/budget focused brand, with a few premium items. I'm hopeful Sheaffer's quality control will improve--I've been wary of buying their recent stuff because of some issues there that's I've read about.

 

Pie in the sky: I'm hoping Cross is serious about increasing the reputation and popularity of the brand and does so in part by returning to some of the classic Sheaffer vintage stylings. Sheaffer Balance III, anyone?

[RMN]

I am reasonably sure it will be like Sanford. They will have 2 separate and recognisable brands, but only one sales and service organisation. Synergy.

 

 

D.ick

[Nathaniel Harter]

Wait, does this mean that Sheaffer is no more????

[pengoddess]

I always find it fascinating that when a major pen company is sold, the general consesnsus seems to be it will be the end of the world for company being bought. Agreed, it sometimes can be, but think about just Sheaffer - they've been owned by Eaton, Eaton-Textron, Gefinor, BIC and now AT Cross. Be it good or bad, this is the way of the world these days. I'd rather see a well known brand continue than going under. Big companies swallowing up big companies so they can be mega companies. There aren't too many big pen companies out there operating under same ownership as when they were formed. I worry more about companies being bought up by totally un-related companies, at least AT Cross knows what a pen is and I think that is good. Too early to tell.

 

On an another note! I've listened to people complain about BIC owning Sheaffer for over a decade now, so now everyone can put an end to that and start complaining about AT Cross, that is if all goes through at the end of October. It's too early to complain and it doesn't do any good anyway ;-)

 

Sam

[pengoddess]

Wait, does this mean that Sheaffer is no more????

 

 

Nathan - NO! This means that if all the legal stuff goes through, AT Cross will own Sheaffer at the end of October.

[Nathaniel Harter]

Will AT Cross own the copyrigths to the logos then? Beacuse i was wondering if I could get permission to use them in my logo, hope this doesnt ruin my site. They hopfully wont care about the logo usage and name usage...

[Nathaniel Harter]

 

 

Nathan - NO! This means that if all the legal stuff goes through, AT Cross will own Sheaffer at the end of October.

 

Could Cross take down Sheaffer then? Or will they continue making products?

[Ernst Bitterman]

 

 

Nathan - NO! This means that if all the legal stuff goes through, AT Cross will own Sheaffer at the end of October.

 

 

Could Cross take down Sheaffer then? Or will they continue making products?

 

They could do away with Sheaffer, but it's unlikely that they bought the company just to close a competitor. There are two more likely results, with variations possible:

- the BAD possibility is that they treat it as a disposable commodity, making pens that look like that Sheaffer has been producing for the past couple of decades, but with zero effort on quality so that in a few years no one will buy a Sheaffer and they fold the name. It makes for short term high profits (a $75 Legacy, say, with $0.10 of parts cost) but ONLY short term.

- the GOOD possibility is that the people currently running production keep doing exactly what they have been doing for the past couple of decades, and just have to remember that the boss has a different name and phone number. It's not such an instant profit explosion, but the money keeps rolling in indefinitely.

 

We may hope for the good, and fear a less developed form of the bad (in which Cross is content for people to one day say, "Oh, it's just a Sheaffer").

[Albinoni]

Ok sorry I'm a bit confused here, so to my knowledge Cross have bought out Sheaffer and does this mean no more Sheaffer and the Sheaffer brand name will be nonexistent, assume the Sheaffer name or brand name does stay I wonder if the new Sheaffer pens would be manufactured in China in their Cross factory.