Allison Krongard Tells Fox Business Center Why WallCandy® Arts is Made in the USA
Nov.8
For Allison Krongard, WallCandy®’s founder and president, owning a company that proudly manufactures its product in America is well worth the extra labor costs.
During a Fox Business Center segment on the value of the “Made in the USA” label, Allison explained to anchor David Asman that she never once considered paying less to produce WallCandy in China, simply because quality is a top priority.
Choosing to manufacture the product domestically meant that she could always visit and revisit each design’s creation at any given point in the production process, including getting someone on the phone to discuss a detail in real time.
“As a parent, I put this product in my children’s rooms,” she told Asman. “I think of other parents and I want to know that what I’m doing is safe, always.”
An infographic displayed during the interview showed that, of the product recalls since November 1999, 1800 were products made or partially made in China, while only 600 were products made or partially made in America.
Sure, manufacturing any product in U.S. costs a little more – approximately $10 to $12 an hour compared to China’s $1 or $2 an hour, according to Asman – but the extra cost ensures that WallCandy’s wall decals and removable wallpaper will be created with high quality, non-toxic vinyl and manufactured without BPA, phthalates, and VOCs.
Despite China’s cheaper labor costs, sacrificing safety and American jobs for a lower price tag wasn’t that tempting, Allison explained.
“Maintaining the quality was the most important thing to me,” she said, “and keeping jobs in America.”
“I think what speaks to the quality is that, in 11 years of having this company, I’ve had less than a 1% failure rate on the product, and I think that’s American manufacturing.”
In March, World News with Diane Sawyer aired “Made in America,” a three-part report in which an American family allows ABC to replace every imported item in their home with American-made versions. At the end of the first segment, journalist David Muir reported economists’ findings that, if every American spent 18 cents more on American goods each day, which amounts to only $67 each year, the impact would create 200,000 American jobs.
If you didn’t catch Allison’s two-minute interview on Fox Business Center, click on the image at the top of the page to watch.
Toast the Royal Wedding with Hip Housewares and a Fairytale Sale
Apr.28
Only 24 hours to go! (Photo credit: Chris Ison/AP)
With Prince William’s marriage to Kate Middleton only one day away, Royal Wedding Fever is at its most contagious. If you find yourself scowling at your spouse’s sudden obsession with E!, your dental hygienist’s plan to host a WilliKate lookalike party, or your cubicle neighbor’s suspicious new accent, just breathe and remember it’s perfectly natural to find the British monarchy fascinating, if only because any governing organization that dates back to 400 A.D. makes our own political pot look so shallow. If you’ve watched even 20 seconds of The Tudors by accident (or the entire series in one shameless sitting, thank you very much), you and I probably share a category – temporarily interested, but only because it’s more tantalizing than baseball or bickering politicians. Yawn.
If there’s one thing about the Royal Wedding I’m enjoying, aside from a wicked case of gown anticipation, it’s the opportunity to save on a few Kate-inspired fashions or home accents for my own Buckingham Palace, which is slightly smaller and much more prone to hosting city mice but still my favorite place to fix up and Feng Shui. I appreciate any occasion that inspires my favorite designers to add new items to already fabulous collections and oft-visited stores to knock a few bucks off the things I’ve been eyeballing for weeks but avoiding due to a mysterious wallet drought. (If you know a few stores who are taking advantage of the Royal Wedding by allowing me to take advantage of a sweet sale or two, post a comment and clue me in!)
Brandon and his Union Jack
I admit that I never paid much attention to the Union Jack until I visited the humble abode of WallCandy®’s leading lady. I’d seen that most famous of flags numerous times on postcards and flagpoles – and once on a well-sculpted forearm – but its place in the Hall of Style Icons is hard to recognize without the proper medium. As a high-quality home accessory carefully planted among complementary shades and shy standards such as, say, a quilted maple bench purchased straight from the furniture maker’s dusty warehouse, the Union Jack truly stands out as a lovely bit of geometry done up in bright, classic colors. One of the most noticeable items in Allison’s house is the crown in her son’s bedroom, a thick Union Jack throw rug, which I daresay he’ll enjoy as a bit of warm-but-masculine décor well into his teenage years.
The Union Jack toolbox
In case you were wondering how cool the Union Jack can get, take a look at the newest addition to WallCandy’s hip housewares collection, the Union Jack metal toolbox by Alice Supply Co. What better way to commemorate Prince William of Wales’s terrific taste than to treat yourself (or your hosting dental hygienist, who just might know the secret to making homemade Aero bars) to the most stylish method possible for keeping up appearances? Use it to keep jewelry in a safe place, corral day-to-day supplies, or give an inherited tool collection a proper home. However you use this sturdy does-it-all, you’ll surely fall in love with a classic historical icon that just happens to be an effective space-sprucer all on its own.
WallCandy’s own Royal Wedding celebration doesn’t end with a groovy toolbox. From now until May 7, every item for sale on the website is 10% off – simply enter the code royal10 during the checkout process and save on a few fun things that will surely last way longer than the televised exchanging of vows.
Queen Elizabeth II prefers sprinkles.
Anyone itching to start a new season can score a pack of large whiteboard wall stickers or a chalkboard wall decal for planning a warm weather bake sale to christen the newly green front yard. Once rampant Royal Wedding Fever has subsided and we can all unglue our eyes, help your kids plan a menu of royally decorated pastries on our spacious cupcake chalkboard wall decal, throw those windows open, and let the scent of springtime baking permeate the neighborhood with the sweet smells of reality. When the first batch is sold out and everyone’s enjoying a sugar coma, it’s a cinch to move any of our reusable chalkboard decals to the playroom wall for an entire summer spent pretending to be the Royal Family’s official caterers.
