A half century in business | Art store hits 50 years through planning, adapting to market
Published 11:21 am Tuesday, September 4, 2012
A lot can happen in 50 years.
In that half century, the world has seen nine presidents, the first missions into space and the moon, and a series of economic booms and busts.
Rare is the business that has lasted and thrived through all of the tumult that can come over five decades, but Bellevue Art Frame can boast such an accomplishment.
The art, framing, toy and gift store will celebrate its 50th anniversary this month, making it one of the city’s longest lasting businesses. In fact, the business is only nine years older than the official city of Bellevue.
The secret to it’s success: adaptation. Since the very beginning, when it was a house paint store in Crossroads known as Bucket and Brush, store owners have surveyed the market and planned ahead to change the identity of the place.
When the store was originally founded in 1962 – the same year as the Space Needle – it sold only house painting supplies. But when the original owner began incorporating art supplies, profits soared, and he didn’t look back. Art supplies became the franchise, the first of many big adjustments that helped the company survive for 50 years.
“I think what we’ve always been very good at is adapting to the economy, to customer needs and the marketplace,” said Robin McLane, who bought the store from the original owner 18 years ago. “It looks nothing like it did even 10 years ago.”
Another change came in the 1980s, when the store counted on commercial sales of materials such as press type to advertising agencies. When technology began to marginalize this piece of inventory – as much $100,000 in merchandise at some points, McLane said – the company moved into the gift realm, and began emphasizing custom frames.
This worked right into McLane’s wheelhouse, as she has been involved in framing since college. She pushed this portion of the business, now one of its biggest sales drivers. Currently, the bottom floor of the building features walls lined with frames of all colors, shapes and sizes.
The final piece of evolution came after a scrap booking boom in the early portion of the 2000s. When this trend began to fade something had to take the spot, and that was toys.
These changes were necessary for the business to survive, as art stores are very market dependent, said David Thompson, an independent sales representative who has worked with many of the area’s largest art supply stores. Much of the history of these stores goes back to a boom in the 1950s, he said. But most have faded as market machinations fluctuated. Technological changes destroyed many others, and change has been key for art stores that managed to hang on.
“Art stores today that simply want to work on art don’t stick around very long,” he said.
To continue the business for another 50 years, McLane and her coworkers face a whole new host of challenges. The majority of those come from online retail. The store has redone its website, allowing customers to design their own frames, register for classes and birthday parties and shop for a variety of products.
The store’s other priority is to have a level of service and selection that blows away the competition, in all of its areas.
“We know customers have options; we just want to be there for them,” McLane said.
50-YEAR CELEBRATION
Bellevue Art and Frame will kick off its next 50 years with a grand celebration of the last half-century.
From 1-5 p.m., Saturday Sept. 8, the store, located at 13131 NE 20th St., will host a party with door prizes, demonstrations, and activities for artists of all ages and skill levels, and a storewide 20 percent discount.
The first 100 adult customers will have the opportunity to create their own 11×14 mixed media artwork by visiting six stations: Montana Spray Paint with Crafter Workshop Stencils, Black Ink for Decorative Paper and Golden for Mediums, Faber Castell Pit Pen and Mix & Match Collection, and Strathmore Cards.
