Strong support from dealers and a last-minute boom in orders are keeping one of West Virginia“s last hand-made glassmakers in business for at least a month longer than anticipated.
After announcing …
Strong support from dealers and a last-minute boom in orders are keeping one of West Virginia“s last hand-made glassmakers in business for at least a month longer than anticipated. After announcing in August 2007 that closure was imminent, Fenton Art Glass received what President George Fenton called “a very strong response” from its network of 4,000 dealers. Output, which had been expected to cease in September 2007, will now likely continue until early November. “We“re actually working overtime this week”, Mr. Fenton said 27 September 2007. About 125 workers remain at the 102-year-old factory along the Ohio River, and Mr. Fenton said there is no set closing date. The gift shop remains open, and factory tours will be conducted through October. Fenton, known for making handcrafted, hand-painted art glass, was able to survive three waves of economic difficulties that destroyed what was once a flourishing glass industry in the state. In August 2007, however, it said it would surrender to growing competition, rising natural gas prices and consumers with lower disposable income. Fenton, Blenko Glass Co. in Milton and Boyd“s Crystal Art Glass in Cambridge, Ohio, are among the few remaining collectible art glass producers in the region. The plant was started in 1905 by Mr. Fenton“s grandfather and nine family members still work there. The family is doing everything it can to keep the company alive, Mr. Fenton said. In 2006, it started an import division, bringing mainly ceramics and some glass to its product mix. “We are looking at all kinds of options”, Fenton said. “But there have been no decisions made, and so far, no feasible go-forward solution. We hope we“ll be able to find a way to continue to make glass here”. The Fentons are famous for developing carnival glass, a distinctive look that combines iridescence with a patterned surface. Some companies had been doing patterns and others had been doing iridescence, but Fenton was the first to put them together in the 1970s. The company also is famous for hobnail milk glass, the opaque white, bubble-covered product that helped the company survive the Depression. It was made into the 1980s. Fenton sells mainly through its dealers, but TV and Internet also help. The firm was one of the earliest participants in QVC, when the shopping channel was barely more than a concept. Mr. Fenton“s uncle, Bill, was the first guest host in 1988.