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Friday, February 27, 2009

NovaScotian Crystal in the clear

Province steps in to guarantee a bank loan to help out ailing hand made crystal maufacturer.

Posted by Carsten Knox on Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 4:00 AM

Have the relentless tales of the recession been getting you down? Well, here's a story of survival that may lift your spirits.

NovaScotian Crystal (5080 George Street on the Waterfront, 492-0416) is a company that has enjoyed 14-15 percent growth for years. Their goblets and decanters have fans around the world, and tourists love them. In 2008, things looked good for business right through the month of August. Then there was a change.

"In September and October, some parts of the business were up, some were down," says president and CEO Rod McCulloch. "There were no big red flags."

But at the beginning of November, the bottom fell out. The end of the year is traditionally NovaScotian Crystal's busiest and most profitable time, largely due to corporate clients who give the exquisite, locally blown crystal as gifts. This year, with the economic downturn, that didn't happen.

"Retail and corporate business was down 20 percent," says McCulloch. The company's western operation in Calgary experienced a 50 percent drop in business over the same period, forcing it to close early in 2009.

A December resurrection plan didn't really take, and NS Crystal had to reevaluate and restructure its manufacturing. Something needed to be done: January through March is their slow time for money coming in, yet their operational costs don't change. "You still need five guys to make a wine glass," says McCulloch.

The business downsized 25 percent, meaning it did lose a few employees. But the province's Industrial Expansion Fund stepped in, providing a guarantee to the bank of $300,000, allowing the bank to lend that money to NS Crystal. Last week RodMac and the premier of New Brunswick, Shawn Graham, had a tour of the place. Graham's wife, Roxanne Reeves, is a keen admirer of the crystal emporium, says McCulloch. MacDonald has told the story in the press of how a glass blower told him "thank you" for the support.

All of which is fine, but what happens now?

"It's a term," says McCulloch of the loan. "It runs out in three years. If we haven't solved the problem in three years, then that's another problem." He adds, though, that "this is just a reorganization. We're here to stay."

The best part of this story is that when people who frequent the shop heard about the problems at NovaScotian Crystal, they came out in force to show their love. "The support we've been getting from our customers has been wonderful."

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Comments (2)

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I will update and say that upon deeper investigation I found that one of the founders, not an employee did in fact issue a thank you. My above comment and all its accompanying rage, however, stands.

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Posted by Fouge on 03/06/2009 at 10:24 AM

I know quite a few of the glass blowers at NSC, and, I assure you that despite his efforts to spin this into a feel good story in a non-Conservative district of NS, Rodney MacDonald lied when he said he was heartily thanked on the floor.

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Posted by Fouge on 03/03/2009 at 2:10 PM

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