The last piece

Chilkat Valley News - Haines, Alaska

2011-12-16T10:12:00.006-05:00

We look at more than 10,000 different photographs every year to find the 300 or so that we will put on our jigsaw puzzles. It is an exhaustive search. We want to make sure we are finding the best images possible for our puzzles.

When we are looking at these photos, we rarely concern ourselves with where the picture is from or even much about what the subject of the photo is. We are looking for photographs that are colorful, fun, sharp, clear, bright and busy. We look for certain themes like castles and hot air balloons, but we try not to limit ourselves too much. And we are willing to try subjects that meet our colorful, fun, sharp, clear, bright and busy criteria even if they are subjects most puzzle companies do not have in their collections. In someways, we like those images even better.

So it was pretty neat when the editor of the Chilkat Valley News in Alaska contacted me recently. He had seen a puzzle of ours that featured a building located on their main street. The puzzle was a panoramic puzzle that we had sold back in 2008 and 2009. The editor wanted to know why we had selected that particular picture. The town is located in Alaska between moutain and the ocean. It is a very scenic location. If one were to visit the town, the last thing they might notice is a rustic building on main street. But that is the image we picked.

The Editor and I traded e-mails and he wrote a small article about the puzzle and the building. Although, we traded e-mails, they missed his deadline, so the last line is technically correct, but I did respond.

Below, I reprint his article with his permission. I found it very interesting to know some of the history and detail behind an image we selected. I hope you will too.

Written by Tom Morphet - editor Chilkat Valley News. Originally printed in the Chilkat Valley New on December 8, 2011.

A popular flower garden on Main Street has been immortalized on a jigsaw puzzle sold nationwide.
Fuzzy von Stauffenberg’s arrangement of lobelias, pansies, salvia, alyssum and tiger lilies along a white, picket fence is part of a series of panoramic puzzles that includes ones of scenes in Venice, Italy, Trafalgar Square, London and St. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow.
“I’m immortalized in a puzzle, or my flowers are,” Von Stauffenberg said this week.
The garden scene puzzle, including as backdrop, a weathered, one-room shack at 314 Main Street, is titled “American Home, Main Street, Haines, Alaska.” It was created by the LaFayette Puzzle Factory in LaFayette, Indiana.
Von Stauffenberg said the photo used for the puzzle appears to have been taken the early 1990s. There’s no telling who shot it, she said. “We always had people taking pictures of the garden with Cortez, my cat. Somebody who came through took a picture and sent it off to somebody.”
Although she’s been keeping a garden there since 1984, Von Stauffenberg said she recognized the arrangement featured on the puzzle. “That was probably the most beautiful of the flower boxes we ever did. Everything came together that summer for a perfect garden.”
The building featured in the photo hasn’t been a home for at least 30 years and may have been moved from near the Canada border, she said. It operated as a store selling trinkets and Native crafts before her family bought it in 1984 and started using it as a storage shed.
Von Stauffenberg said her late husband Eric von Stauffenberg, hung a small American flag in the window, and put a metal fuel jug, wicker basket and bicycle rack on the sill because he thought they were eye-catching. The couple operated a restaurant next door for several years.
Rod Hinson, who operates a variety store at Second and Main, has about 10 copies of the 350-piece puzzle for sale. He said he purchased 14 of them through an Ebay seller in California and his mom found and sent him another six.
“When tourists are coming through and they want something from Haines, it’s something we can offer them,” Hinson said. “It doesn’t really show anything about Haines. It’s just a neat backdrop with flowers, but it gets your attention.”
A co-worker brought Von Stauffenberg a copy of the puzzle last spring, but it’s still in the box, she said. “I may get around to doing it when I’m no longer doing flower gardens in my old age,” she said.
Calls and e-mail messages to LaFayette Puzzle Co. this week went unanswered.

Pretty neat! Do not be surprised if we go looking for images from Haines Alaska in the future!

QVC

2011-12-15T03:03:00.002-05:00

The e-mail that I was going to be on QVC's Great Gifts show during the early morning hours of black friday (the day after Thanksgiving) came on Friday Nov. 18 around 7pm. I had 24 hours to confirm I could be there. I confirmed within 20 minutes. And then I had a panic attack.

I had first met the QVC buyer more than 2 years ago. I had gone to on-air guest training 15 months ago. I passed the class and the forgot everything they told me. I had lost weight and put it back on thinking I would never go on the air. Suddenly the thing that I thought would never happen was happening. The panic attack continued.

I had a lot to do in less than 7 days. I had to get to Philadelphia. I was going to miss Thanksgiving. I had to lose some weight. I had to stop biting my nails. I had to start washing my face better so that I did not have a break out. I needed a haircut (but not too short of a haircut). I needed to make sure I scheduled time at the QVC salon for make up. And I needed to find those QVC on-air guest notes I took. I needed to think about what I was going to say.

But it all worked out. I found my notes. I got a great haircut. I made my appointment with the QVC salon. I stopped biting my nails (still good 4 weeks later!). I found a cheap airfare (Thanksgiving day is a great day to fly. They even have turkey in the airport). And it was easy to know what I wanted to say on air. The puzzle I was showing it one of my favorites.

QVC is a very professional organization. Incredibly accomodating and helpful to the on-air guest. My show was going to run from 1am - 4am eastern time. I was to arrive at 1opm. I arrived at 9:45. There was a nice waiting area with coffee, pop, snack foods, cupcakes and water. The seats were comfortable. There were a couple of dressing rooms the on-air guests shared. And everyone was friendly. I was the only rookie going on and the rest of the guests could not have been nicer. They all had encouraging words. They put me at ease.

I will admit to being nervous. But the most nervous I got was when I was checking in with the security guard at the front desk. I have no idea why, but I actually started hyperventilating a bit and had trouble telling him my name. It was so strange. It was the only time the whole evening that happened. Sure I was nervous, but the most physically nervous moment was at the security desk.

So I arrived at 9:45pm and after a few minutes of introductions and a quick tour, I was given a beeper so the producers could find me. Not that I was going anywhere, but everyone gets one. As I walked in the guest waiting area a funny thing happened. There was a woman sitting there that I knew. It was one of those moments where you see someone and your mind says you know them. They are a familiar face. And you just need a moment to place them. Then I realized I did know her. I had watched her almost every night on QVC talking about bed linens. I knew her, but she did not know me.

From 10pm to midnight I just sat around. I put together my puzzle and watched QVC. I watched the difference guests to get a feel for what words they used and how they acted on the air. At midnight things started to happen quickly. I went to make up at midnight. A very nice make up artist made me look not too shiny and not too pale. I was quite pleased. He even helped me fix my hair so it was not sticking up in back like it has done for the last 40 years Dennis the Menace style. Then I met with the host for my show, Amy. Amy and I spent about 10 minutes together talking about the puzzle, its key features, the type of person who might like the puzzle. She loved that it was my first time on the air and said she was going to mention it.

My time slot was 2:25am. I was going to be on the air for between 5 and 7 minutes. The final timing would depend on how the show was running and my success at generating phone calls and sales. I was on set by 1:45 getting set up. I was a bit nervous and I set up really early.

I can not tell you how talented the QVC hosts are. Amy was unbelievable. She never took a break. And she made it sound like she was just hanging out with friends who had brought in the most incredible items. It did not matter if it was a touch pad computer, a flashlight, or a tin of candy. She sounded knowledgable and convincing about each product. The QVC hosts are incredibly talented.

My segment started and the rest is a blur. I was nervous for the first few seconds and then I was off and talking. I think the host had a lot to do with making me relax. Our segment ended up being over 7 minutes long. It felt much shorter at the time. The sales were strong and I was really quite pleased. QVC was too.

I was done by 2:40. I was pretty hyper and did not leave the studio until 3:30. I returned to my hotel and took a shower. I watched my segment on a computer in the lobby, but there was no sound. I did not actually see and hear the segment until almost two days later. I took a 7:30am flight home and slept all the way on the airplane.

To watch my segment, visit the QVC website - www.QVC.com. Search Sphere puzzles. My puzzle is the Royce McClure puzzles.

JP

2011-07-21T14:59:00.002-04:00

We had a good laugh in the office this week.

A puzzler had called this week because her puzzle was missing a piece. She was really upset that she could not complete her puzzle. Missing pieces are a rare occurrence, but they do happen. We put something like 5 billion puzzle pieces into boxes each year. One or two is bound to bounce out despite our best efforts.

By the way, no puzzle company likes to talk about missing pieces. But every puzzle company hears from consumers who have missing pieces. We usually ask the folks to try and complete the puzzle first. Often folks are convinced a piece is missing because they can not "find" it while assembling the puzzle. The piece is there. The colors or shape are just different than what they are expecting. As they get to the end of the puzzle they "find" the piece they were looking for.

Anyway, we spoke to the puzzler in the morning and reassured her we would help her out.

Later in the afternoon she called us back. She said she had told her husband about calling us and how happy she was with our customer service. Her husband was quiet for a few minutes and then said he said he needed to admit to something. He had vacuumed up the piece earlier in the week. He saw it go in and decided not to say anything. Our puzzler was calling to say she had gotten the vacuum cleaner and opened the bag. She found the piece (slightly bent, a little dusty, but still usable) and her puzzle was complete.

We all had a good laugh imagining the scene at this house. And we all agreed we too would have cut open the vacuum cleaner bag to retrieve the piece.

I was glad her husband came clean (pun intended) and she was able to finish the puzzle.

JP

2011-07-19T16:07:00.002-04:00

This place has become a dismal place of death like silence.

I just read that on another blog I like and follow. I do not want this place to be like that. So today I write.

A really neat thing happened in the last couple of months.

We have a new product being introduced this fall. It is a series of Origami titles. Now, origami kits have been around forever. I never really did them because I thought the activity was difficult and the instructions impossible to decifer. But we came up with some neat incremental innovations that really improved the experience of making the pieces.

Among other things:
We rewrote the instructions with the novice in mind.
We added little dash marks on the paper indicating where to fold and crease the paper.
We printed on the paper so that when you are finished, the flower (or dolphin, or horse, or fish or whatever) looks like the object.
We used paper that was meant to be folded and creased.
We included a background that stood up in front of your origami projects.

The item is really nice.

A few weeks before we went into our first printing, Cora in our office suggested we do video instructions too. I loved the idea, but worried about our ability to execute. In my head video instructions meant writing scripts, renting film studios, hiring actors, editing and more. We have over 20 different designs in our first run and that sounded like a lot of work. And expensive. Mostly I thought the idea sounded expensive. I made the executive decision not to include anything about video instructions on our packaging until the videos were done.

I did this assuming that it would take months and months to make the videos (if we ever got to doing them).

Then I forgot about video instructions.

Until a few weeks later when Cora and her team e-mail me some links to videos on YouTube.

The videos were up. And they were really good. I mean REALLY REALLY good.

The joke is that they were filmed in our conference room. And they were filmed using a cell phone camera. The script was Cora or Vivian or Sujata just making the piece. They had written the instructions and had made the items a ton of times, so they knew exactly what they were doing. They knew the confusing parts and how to explain them clearly.

Take a look at this link to the LPF YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/LPFPuzzle

What I really love about this project is that Cora and the team knew how good these would be and went ahead and did it. The cost was mimimal. All our other projects are moving along right on schedule. I worried about costs and execution. They worried about just making a great video. And it worked.

I am mad at myself that I did not make a bigger deal about the video instructions on our first packaging. I should have trusted the team when they said the instructions would be easy and cheap. I have learned my lesson. We are redoing the packaging right now to catch our next manufacturing run.

And here is a little insiders tip. Check out the Horse Origami video. Around the 6:25 mark there is a neat little trick you can do with the horse.

JPC

2011-04-05T15:28:00.003-04:00

Our family has been putting together puzzles alot lately. The last two were from our Colorluxe 500pc and 750pc Panoramic lines. These puzzles are on sale at Target, but their quantities are limited. We put together a really fun image of Hawaiian Sarongs on sale at a shack in Hawaii. This puzzle was pretty easy, but a lot of fun. There are a ton of different colors and patterns making lots of different zones to complete. There are very few "dead" areas in the puzzle (almost no blue sky, just some shadows scattered about). It took us less than 2 hours to put together. I am sure others can complete them faster, but we try not to make it a race. I like puzzle time to be about talking and working together. Next we tackled an image of two adorable cats. I had lower expectations for this puzzle, but I loved the cats. I am a cat person and this is why this image made the cut. I was worried the background would be difficult since there was a lot of green. But I discovered (happily), that the background greens are made up of many different shades of green. And there are a variety of textures in the leaves and plants. This made the background challenging, but not impossible. I am not the type of puzzler that likes the super duper difficult puzzles that are all one color. I want to do puzzles that are challenging and fun. Not unfinishable. Doing our puzzles makes me really proud. I am pround at how nicely the pieces fit together. I was able to put areas together and then move the section of puzzle into the area is belongs without the puzzle pieces coming apart. I had to be gentle, but they basically stayed together. More and more, I find that other puzzles I buy from competitors do not hold together well enough for me to move sections around like that. I like that ours do hold together. I am always curious if other consumer goods companies presidents use and work with their products like I do. I like that I can discuss with a puzzler a puzzle LPF produced and we both have assembled. I did that today and it prompted me to write this entry. If you have not tried a Colorluxe puzzle, get yourself over to Target and find one. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. JP

2011-03-23T00:26:00.003-04:00

I am up late tonight. I am working on quote sheets, samples and presentation materials.

It is getting late in the selling cycle to get our products on shelf for this coming 4th quarter. By now, most retailers have made their decisions on what they will carry for the the holiday seasons. In a few weeks, we will actually begin shipping for the Fall retail selling season.

But this week, we received a request to meet with someone who had seen our puzzles in other retailers. They liked what they saw and they want to see if we fit into their puzzle set.

This is very exciting. And very rushed. The retailer thought they had made all their decisions. But seeing our Spring line in stores has made them curious. The funny part is we have been trying to meet with them for months.

Being the new guy on the block, we will jump at any opportunity. So I am up late putting together a presentation for them. I have been in their stores a lot this winter and I was back today to make sure I had not missed anything. I can tell from visiting the store so many times what sells well and what does not. When you go look at the puzzle aisle of a retailer every week for months, you can see what is new on the shelf and what is gathering dust. I will use this investigation to make recommendations.

But first I am taking a break to write a blog post. I am going to try and write one blog post a week from now until the end of the year. It did not seem so hard when I decided to commit to writing more frequently. But now that week three is dawning, I am feeling a little pressure to keep up. I do have a back up plan if I can not think of anything to write. I might just post pictures of cute babies I see. Other blogs do this and it is very effective. Everyone likes to look at cute babies.

My next post might be about the puzzle our family put together this weekend. It was one of our Colorluxe 500 piece puzzles on sale at Target right now ($3.99 for a limited time!). It was really fun and I am not just saying that. The colors were great. I rarely tell you to go buy one of our puzzles, but you really should check out our Colorluxe puzzles at Target. I am so proud of them.

Keep on puzzling!

JP

2011-03-15T02:31:00.005-04:00

It was my turn to answer the phone. We are still small enough the president has to answer the phone when it rings.

"Hello" I said warmly. "Thank you for calling the Lafayette Puzzle Factory. How may I help you?"

"There is a pea in my puzzle"

Uh-oh. My mind raced. I have answered the phone for 3 years. I have talked to hundreds of puzzlers. I thought I had heard it all.

I said the first thing I could think of "Huh?"

"There is a pea in my puzzle and I want to know why".

My mind was in full swoon. A pea. In the the puzzle? How did a pea get in her puzzle. We do not allow food near the puzzles. No drinks, no food allowed in the production area. A pea.

"The pea is bright green and it stands out against the puzzle. And I want to know why."

Bright green? A pea in the puzzle? I have never heard of such a thing.

I asked "What puzzle are you trying to assemble and are you sure the pea was in the box?"

The caller answered "The pea is in the upper right hand corner."

Upper right hand corner? What does that mean? Why is she telling me what corner the pea is in. Wait. Wait. Does she mean that pea is in the picture.

Gathering my composure "Do you mean the pea is in the picture? In the image?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "Why is it there?"

"What puzzle are you assemblying?"

At this point the caller explained that she was assemblying a picture of licorice candy we have in the line this winter. The licorice is basically pink, white, and brown. It is a neat puzzle and I remember looking at proofs of the candy. But I did not remember any peas in the picture.

The caller went on to describe her theory for why the pea was in the image. While she described her theory, I went scrambling to find the image on our servers.

"The Cherokee Indians (jp note: it might have been another tribe, but I know how to spell Cherokee, so Cherokee it is. If you know what tribe was described, let me know and I will correct this sentence) had a belief that you can never have all of a like thing together. When they wove a blanket of wool, they would be sure to include one thread of straw so that the blanket was not all wool. Did you add the pea so that the image would not be all candy? Like the Cherokees"

I love this theory. And I found the image. There is a green pea in the upper right hand corner. How it got there? I have no idea. But I like the theory. We put the pea in the upper right hand corner so that the image would not be all of one like thing. What a great idea. Maybe we should hide a pea in every image we do. It would sort of go with my name, JP. It might be the hook we have been looking for.

But that is not why the pea is there. As a matter of fact, until this phone call, not a single person had noticed the pea in the image. Now, we all notice it. Our eyes are drawn to it. Its all we can see when we look at the image.

It was a fun phone call and we talked for quite some time about puzzles and the types of images the caller liked. She was an expert when it came to puzzles and I enjoyed listening.

Here is the image:

Do you see the pea? I do.

Keep on puzzling!

JP

2011-01-20T07:52:00.003-05:00

I have written in the past about why folks like to assemble puzzles.

Its an affordable, relaxing activity.
There is a sense of challenge while putting the pieces together and a sense of accomplishment when the last piece goes in.
It can be a shared activity with the whole family gathered around or a solitary activity.

I hear from folks who have their favorite images and they put them together over and over. Others glue the puzzle and save it. Or display it on the wall. Others do a puzzle once and give it to some one else to assemble. Or they just put it away in a closet.

But why do we make puzzles? Why do we sell them. Why do we look at thousands and thousands of images to find the perfect puzzle image?

Like the reason why folks assemble puzzles, the reasons and motivations are many.

I have always liked puzzles. I grew up in a house that assembled puzzles. I can distinctly remember a 500pc puzzle of a hamburger that we put together as a family many times. I still pull that puzzle out of the closet and assemble it. It brings back wonderful memories. When I had a chance to work for a company that manufactured puzzles, I knew I had found a home. And then later when I decided to start my own company, puzzles were something I knew about and had a passion for.

Puzzles allow me to earn a living and provide employment for others. Everyone works to earn a living. I am blessed that I am able to have a career that I enjoy and can earn a living. No one ever got rich making and selling puzzles, but it allows me to provide for my kids and family. And we employ other people and companies. In addition to the obvious people like artists, photographers, graphic designers, accountants, shipping experts, and quality control people, we do business with a wide array of companies including the US Postal Service, Fed Ex, UPS, Office Max, trucking companies and more. That is satisfying.

We provide affordable entertainment to people. I never realized how much this would mean to me. To be honest, when I started the Lafayette Puzzle Factory, the money reasons were what I thought about most. But as folks have written me letters and e-mails, I realize how many families are positively impacted by our puzzles. Some of the letters are sad. Puzzles remind them of places they traveled with loved ones no longer with us. I heard from a person recently who loved an image we have of Niagara Falls because they had honeymooned there 50+ years ago. Another letter told us about a man who has been diagnosised with Ahlzheimer's disease. This is a disease that hits home for me in a very personal way. The man described in the letter found peace in assemblying puzzles of places he had visited in his life. While many of his memories were fading, puzzles were triggering something. This person and their spouse could do puzzles together and still connect. Puzzles take peoples mind off of hard economic times, illness and loneliness.

The letters and notes keep coming. I read some of them recently to our team to remind them that the puzzles we sell are not just numbers on shipping reports. Each one goes into a home. Each one is used and enjoyed by real people in their homes.

So when we are looking for new images and thinking up new formats, we remember this. And it motivates us to take a few extra minutes to look a little deeper for that great image. We debate a few minutes longer to make sure the images that make it into our lines are the best we can find. And even when we think we have found all the greatest images, we know that we need to keep looking. And we do.

Keep on puzzling!

2010-11-12T21:48:00.005-05:00

So many things to keep me busy and away from this blog.

But I am making time tonight. I am making time because I enjoy writing here. Not many folks start a business and I have always felt like this blog could be a small window into the first few years of a new company.

I attended my 3rd Toy Preview Show in Dallas last month. Our booth space keeps improving (the first year we were the last booth on a deadend aisle in an overflow hall). People found us then, but it is easier when you are on the main floor like we are now.

It is a good show for a company of our size. The big toy companies (Hasbro, Jakks Pacific, Mattel to name a few), do not attend. But most of the major retailers do attend. Without the big companies dominating the retail buyers time, we find that we get quality face time with major retailers. Anytime we can tell the story of the Lafayette Puzzle Factory it helps. We are different and we have a compelling line up of puzzles and activities.

I got to thinking about all of this because of an e-mail I received this week. The father of my oldest friend sent a note. In the note he re-introduced me to a woman who grew up in our neighborhood. She has started a new business and he thought it might be interesting to reconnect.

Her business is really interesting and her web site is great. She is selling doll clothes. But not just any doll clothes. She sells used doll clothes, some of the pieces date back decades. I am not a doll collector, but I admit I loved looking through her website and seeing the way she presents the clothes and the company. The advice I was given before I started the Lafayette Puzzle Factory is to only do it if you really love it. Looking at her website, you can tell she really loves this niche fashion business.

I am not sure how many of your might need doll clothes, but I know a lot of folks who collect also assemble jigsaw puzzles, so I thought there might be some folks who would be interested in this company.

Check out the company, enjoy the dresses and keep on puzzling!

http://www.tinyfrockshop.com/

Thanks!

JP

2010-09-23T00:00:00.002-04:00

Hopefully you are starting to find our Fall collection in stores. By mid-October, our goods will be in almost 20,000 retail outlets all over North America. And a few more in Australia, New Zealand and other countries. It is exciting. And hard to believe that this is only our second holiday season in stores. Quite a ride.

If you are having trouble finding our puzzles, take a look at our web site: www.lpfpuzzle.com. On the right hand side of the home pages are links to various on-line stores where you can find LPF puzzles. Take a look.

In less than 2 weeks, I will be in Dallas, TX for the Toy Preview Show. It is a chance for retailers to get a sneak peak at our 2011 puzzle line. It is a great line and I can not wait to show it off.

But today, I want to write about a neat little restaurant I tried. It just opened and I read about it in the newspaper here in Lafayette. It is called Jarocho's. Its at 404 N. Earl. And it is a hidden gem.

The restaurant is run by a mom and son. The mom cooks all the food from scratch when you order. So do not go hungry or without some time to kill. But if you have the time for a delicious leisurely lunch, this is the place. Isabel is the chef. The menu is limited. I had Chicken Enchilladas with mole sauce. Isabel makes the mole from scratch. I am a mole expert and this mole was amazing. She also let us sample one of her famouse tamales. It too was unbelievable.

Service is slow. Isabels son is the waiter for the whole restaurant. The mom is the only cook. When you order, she makes your meal completely. It takes time. I suggest getting there early.

Why am I writing about a new restaurant? When I walked into the small dining room today, it reminded me of starting LPF. Here are two people who believe there is a hole in the market for a good mexican restaurant. To be honest, Lafayette has tons of mexican restaurants. It is hard to believe we need another one. But these two saw an opening. They would cook each meal individually. They know the ingrediants for mole and a couple of other sauces, so that is all they concentrate on. They do no have a burrito on the menu. Mexican food could be a commodity. A taco is a taco. Taco bell is cheaper. Little Mexico down the street is faster and has more selection. But the food is not as good as at Jerocho's. The attention to detail is not the same. And the prices at Jerocho's are the same or even cheaper than Little Mexico.

LPF was founded on the same principles. There are a lot of puzzle companies in the USA. A lot. Some people see puzzles as a commodity. A puzzle is a puzzle is a puzzle. Heck, I think some puzzle makers think puzzles are just a commodity. But retailers and puzzlers know differently. They know that a box full of pieces is not enough. There are lots of pretty pictures in the world. But most of them would make a terrible puzzle. At the Lafayette Puzzle Factory, we know what separates a great puzzle image from a good picture. We know the importance of using the right types of papers. The better the paper, the more enjoyable the puzzle will be. And the more times you can put it together. I love making jigsaw puzzles. I love hearing from puzzlers who put together our puzzles.

This was the same love that I felt at Jerocho's today. Isabel loves making good food. She loves watching the folks try her cooking. I saw her peaking out of the kitchen when we ate the tamales. She makes her food because she knows what it takes to make good food and she loves to watch others enjoy the food.

My team and I love to make a great puzzle. I love when I am in a store and I see someone buy a Lafayette Puzzle Factory puzzle instead of another puzzle (it happens and I am not kidding that it is the biggest thrill!!!!). I love when I get letters asking where to buy more puzzles. And I love when retailers recognize our expertise and find extra space for all our wonderful puzzles.

So go support Isabel if you are in Lafayette. And suppor the Lafayette Puzzle Factory by buying our puzzles and telling your friends all about us.

JP

2010-08-12T16:45:00.002-04:00

The response to our Crayola Chalkboard Puzzle continues to be great. Attached is a link to a review from a mom with 2 kids. She included pictures of her kids putting the puzzle together and then playing with the puzzle.

I also had a chance to visit a friend of mine who has 2 boys aged 6 and 3 (maybe 4). I took one of the puzzles with me to their house. I assembled the puzzle with them. Then we all played with it. We had many spirited games of tic-tac-toe. And here is the neat part. As we played the boys decided instead of x's and o'x we should have to draw body parts (ears and elbows) or foods. The puzzle was a vehicle for them to use their creativity. To make jokes. To be silly. They loved it. It was so fun to watch. The 6 year old even told us a story about how he knew to always start in the middle box. A girl in his pre-school class kept beating him. She finally broke down and told him the great secret of tic-tac-toe strategy. His mom and dad had never heard the story. They loved that the puzzle had given him the opportunity to tell them this little fact.

I also had a chance to see why chalk is so great for kids. We left the room for a few minutes. When we came back the 6 year old was very proud. He had drawn a perfect rectangle on the wall and colored it in with the chalk. Now, I do not recommend this as it did give me and the parents a bit of a scare. But the chalk washed off with just a damp rag from the kitchen. No evidence that a little extra creativity had made it to the wall.

I tell this part of the story as an example that I have kids and I am around kids. They do things we wish they would not. So as a person who makes products for kids, I try and recognize these things. That is why I knew chalk was the perfect fit with a childrens puzzle. It would allow them to show off and explore their creative side. And it would give the parents a bit of a safety net if that creativity made it onto a wall. Or a little brother.

Check out the review: http://jamericanspice.blogspot.com/2010/08/its-game-time-lafayette-puzzle-factory.html

And then, if you want to buy the puzzle, visit your local Toys R Us or go on line at Toys R Us:
http://www.toysrus.com/search/index.jsp?kw=chalkboard+puzzle&f=Taxonomy%2FTRUS%2F2254197&s=A-UnitRank-TRUS&f=Taxonomy%2FTRUS%2F2255960&fbc=1&fbn=TaxonomyArts+%26+Crafts+Supplies

In the meantime, keep on puzzlin'!

JP

2010-07-20T14:34:00.003-04:00

Very often folks send me pictures of their completed Lafayette Puzzle Factory puzzles.

I love getting these notes. I really do.

I understand the sense of accomplishment they feel once the puzzle is fully assembled. I feel it when I finish a puzzle. I love the satisfaction of putting in the last piece (thus the name of this blog).

So if you feel that same pride, do not be afraid to send me a picture of your puzzle. I love seeing it and I totally understand. I might have to start posting a few of my own finished puzzles.

JP

2010-07-19T14:28:00.002-04:00

We are in the process of finalizing our 2011 product line up. This will be our 3rd year. We will be introducing our 4th catalog. We have come so far from our first catalog. Our first catalog had 6 puzzle lines and was 12 pages with lots of room between products. I still love looking at that catalog. The 6 lines were the basics (50pc, 100pc, 500pc, 1000pc, panoramic puzzles and a sphere shape). There were a few artists, but mainly photographic puzzles. I love that first catalog. It was small, but it was proof we existed and were ready to be judged by folks who put together puzzles. The first catalog did not last long. We quickly introduced a second catalog 6 months later that had more artists, unique formats (Chalkboard, Fuzzle, Cling, etc), and even new packaging.

Last week, the whole LPF team was together finalizing our 2011 line. We will introduce the line in Dallas in October. It was hard not to remenisce a little as we went through the process. We laughed about previous years. We remembered who had good ideas and joked about others that never got off the ground.

It feels like we are getting ready for our junior year in high school (with a child going to be a sophomore in high school, I spend time thinking about transitions). Freshman year (our first year) we were unsure exactly what to expect from retailers and puzzlers. We were hopeful, knew that we had been well prepared, and above all hoped we would survive. As that first year went on, we grew more confident. We realized that we could play and survive against the bigger "seniors". We were accepted by folks and started to find our niche.

This last year has been our sophomore year. We were no longer green behind the ears and knew what to expect. We were more comfortable and stepped out of our comfort zone a bit more. People knew our names and actually sought us out. The seniors did not seem so scary and we realized they were just like us, only older. As sophomores we were hungry and not afraid to be a little pushy. It has paid off well.

And so now, during this summer, we prepare for our junior year. We feel comfortable. We have a few scars, but overall we are ready for the coming year and beyond. We now talk about longer range plans. We are ready to take on more responsibility and leadership. We have proven to ourselves and to others we belong.

These first years have flown by. We do not spend much time thinking about the past. My focus is on the future. I am motivated by the kind letters, e-mails and phone calls we receive. Words of thanks from families who have tried our puzzles and like them. They want to buy more. They want us to sell them in stores closer to their homes. We hear the calls and we use them as motivation to push harder.

I have said it before, starting the Lafayette Puzzle Factory is the hardest thing I have ever done. And it is the most fun thing I have ever done.

Keep checking back to the blog. I promise to be better about updates. We have some neat things coming up and I can not wait share these with you in the next few weeks and months. I might even post a few more embarassing pictures of me at different events.

JP

2010-06-23T21:45:00.006-04:00

So much has been going on since my last blog post.

The team and I have been busy shipping our Fall products to stores. New puzzles are starting to show up on shelves now. But most will not be in stores until August or so. Keep your eyes open. They are coming. In the mean time, keep visiting Toys R Us for our Crayola Floor Puzzles. We have been getting some really nice positive reviews for the product. It was a 2009 Toy of the Year winner. If you have kids, this is the puzzle for you.

We have also been visiting with retailers about adding new puzzles to their Spring 2011 puzzle departments. I do not think that folks realize how far in advance the stores plan their merchandise. So I have been out visiting retailers since mid May. Other than the travel, I really like meeting with the retail buyers face to face. I learn tons. And that in turn helps us make better puzzles (and other products!).

We are also attending a few trade shows. These are shows where we find and buy the art to put on puzzles. I was in NYC at the Surtex show and then a few weeks later in Las Vegas at the Licensing Show. Both were great and I could have used more time at both. There is so much great art out there.

Las Vegas was fun because it was 106 degrees! As soon as I got to my hotel, I put on shorts and walking shoes and took a stroll. It was like walking with someone blowing a hair dryer at your face. It was hot, but the hot wind made it just feel hot. Not humid/sticky like when it is hot in Indiana. Anyway, now I can say I have been in 106 degree heat.

All the major TV and movie studios have booths at the Las Vegas licensing show. I like getting my picture taken with the different characters. This year I took some with darth vadar and his friends. A women came up and asked if she could take the picture for me (the person I was with was not doing it right in this persons opinion). Before I knew it she had me acting out being arrested by darth and the gang. I went along with and before I knew it a crowd had gathered to watch me make a fool of myself. But I must admit, I do like the pictures. And my boys thought they were great! So I guess, this mystery person knew what she was doing. Here I share my embarassing pictures. And remind you that I was the perfect age when the original movie came out. I believe I saw it 12 times in the movie theater! What a nerd. :-)

2010-05-14T09:08:00.003-04:00

Thank you to everyone who has helped our launch of the Crayola Chalkboard Floor puzzle at Toys R Us. It is a top seller early in its time on shelf. Keep spreading the word about his unique new twist to floor puzzles.

I received a neat note recently from one of the owners of a horse we feature in our Heavenly Horses line of puzzles. I am not sure how she found us, but she was so happy to see her prized horse featured in the line. The horse in question is the one title Forest Enchantment. The horses name is Cavu Paragon. He is a beautiful horse and the picture by Bob Langrish is stunning and one of the favorites in the office. I am so happy the owners are pleased with the puzzle.

If you are interested in buying this particular image (or others from the line) visit our web site - www.lpfpuzzle.com. On the right side of the home page are links to our on-line partners. If you are a retailers with a web site that features our puzzles, let me know and I will link to your site as well.

Lots more going on behind the scenes. We are in production for our fall line and will have more about our listings later in the summer. Also, we are getting ready for our annual trip to licensing show. This is a big show and I am looking forward to seeing the new art and entertainment licenses available.

The weather is getting nicer, but I know true puzzlers still keep a puzzle out on the table to refresh their mind and soul. We are working hard to keep new images coming. Keep spreading the word about the Lafayette Puzzle Factory.

JP

2010-04-13T08:24:00.002-04:00

More Lafayette Puzzle Products are available on-line.

Our award winnng Crayola Chalkboard Floor Puzzle has been available in stores since the beginning of the year. But now Toys R Us has added it to its web site (and its stores). Free shipping and the same price as in stores. A great value and very convenient.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3997359

There are 2 other titles available too, but I do not see them on their web site yet. The other two titles are a USA Map and our original Playground image.

If you are not familiar with this puzzle, let me tell you about it. We have created a special surface coating that lets the puzzle act like a chalkboard. On the Space image at the link above, you can write or draw with chalk (which we include for free!) on all the black outer space areas. The magic is watching kids draw their own aliens and spaceships on the image. The puzzle is new and fresh every time kids put it together. The pieces are big and sturdy. The puzzle is 2ft by 3ft when assembled. And the box is really nice with a handle and zip strip opening. It makes a great gift.

Follow the link and check it out.

JP

2010-04-08T23:37:00.002-04:00

Just about 1 year ago we sold and shipped our first puzzles . It was an exciting day that I will never forget. But today might be the 2nd most exciting.

Almost from the beginning, folks have sent me letters, e-mails and phone calls asking how they can buy other puzzles they see on our web site. As a new company, our distribution is always growing, but never fast enough. If I had my way, every puzzle would be available in every store across the nation. And while I spend just about every waking hour trying to make that happen, it may take me a few years to accomplish.

So the next best thing is to partner with retailers that have a good, safe and efficient web sites. I am happy to say we have found our first partner. Calendars.com

http://www.calendars.com/LPF-Limited/cat330064/

Calendars.com is a neat company that carries just about every puzzle line we have. Maybe not every image, but at least a few from every catagory. I think you will find their web site easy to use and their selection of LPF puzzles to be outstanding. And the good news is, they are adding more of our puzzles to the site all the time.

Click on the link above and let me know what you think. I am eager to hear how folks find the buying experience on the web site.

And while you are there, check out some of the various calendars they carry. Here is a company I found that I like particularly: http://www.calendars.com/Some-Publishing/cat330002/

I can not wait to hear your thoughts on the web site. And I hope to announce more on-line partners soon.

JP

2010-03-31T23:40:00.002-04:00

I have been waiting for awhile for this post. I love when we get our first order from a new retailer. It is so exciting. So much work goes into meeting and working with a retailer that when that order finally comes in and we ship out our puzzles, we really celebrate. It does not matter how big or small the order we get is. It just feels good to add to our constantly expanding distribution.

This week Toys R Us is our newest retail partner. They are carrying our Crayola Chalkboard Floor puzzle line. We have 3 titles in the series and Toys R Us is carrying all 3 (Playground Fun, Space Race, and USA Map).

The puzzles are great. Each comes with Crayola Sidewalk chalk. The chalk can be used on the puzzle and wipes off mess free like a real chalkboard. The Space Race and Playground Fun images are great for kids to use their imagination and join the fun in the picture. Kids can draw on the USA Map anything they desire. It is the perfect free form puzzle. And since kids can draw on the puzzle, the puzzle never gets boring.

Anyway, we are all really excited to have our Crayola puzzle at Toys R Us. I do not see it on their web site yet and it is not at my store here in Lafayette (due next week the manager tells me). But I have gotten reports of the puzzle on shelf in California and Illinois.

So keep your eyes open and let me know if you see it in your local store.

JP

2010-03-31T09:55:00.002-04:00

Everything always seems to take longer than I expect. I was hoping by now to be bragging about our new website and our new on-line puzzle stores. But, we have been slammed with new orders. Getting these orders organized and into production has taken up tons of time. Most of the orders are for our new items. We have been working on these lines for months, but the first order means that we have to make final decisions on packaging and artwork. And with over 60 new pieces of art in one of the orders, there are a lot of final decisions.

I do not think most people realize how much work goes into making a puzzle. Actually, making a puzzle is not difficult. They will tell you technically it is simple. Take a picture, put it on some cardboard and cut it into a predetermined number of pieces. But making a nice quality puzzle and then repeating that over and over it not easy. The difference between a really good image and a just ok image is subtle. We look at 10,000 or more images every year just to find the few hundred we make into puzzles. We reject some really great pictures that just are not great puzzles. And then we have to do all over again the next year.

The images on the puzzles we are putting into production right now were found a year ago. Last April I bought a lot of the images. They will not be in stores for another 6 - 8 weeks. Over 1 year from the first time we saw the image until it is in a store. And since then, I have looked at thousands of additional images.

I think one of the qualifications for picking images is that the person needs experience putting together puzzles. Only by putting together a puzzle do you realize the small things within a puzzle that are important. The importance of colors and shapes. The importance of the feel of the puzzle pieces. The importance of the label on the box that you use to help put together the pieces. These are all important. Not to mention having the right picture.

At the Lafayette Puzzle Factory we have that experience. We have put together puzzles. We have bought bad images in the past. We have used cheap materials and seen the results (not pretty). These experiences are what make our puzzles different from other companies. It is why after only being in business for a little over a year we have growing reputation as a company that knows puzzlers. And whose puzzles sell to a consumer who knows puzzles.

Anyway, all this has kept us busy and for that we are thankful. Keep an eye out. New puzzles will be in stores in the next few weeks and months. I can not wait to hear how we did.

JP

2010-03-17T08:56:00.002-04:00

Spring is finally starting to show itself. Yesterday was a day that we have needed for quite some time. The sun was out in full force. It was a day to drive around with the windows down in the car (and the heat on inside the car just a bit). The kids had their first practices outside. Baseball for my sons and soccer for my daughter. Everyone was in a good mood as the day came to an end.

Spring also means the Lafayette Puzzle Factory is making its first shipments of our new items. Seems like I have been getting a lot of feedback that folks are looking for puzzles. A lot of retailers cut back on their puzzle sections in the Spring and Summer. The industry collectively believes that puzzles are a winter activity. There is no doubt that sales are the highest in the fall and winter. But retailers that keep a fresh selection of puzzles year round tell me they see good sales even in the "off" months.

If you are a person who loves puzzles year round, do not be afraid to tell the manager in your local store that you shop for puzzles year round and find their selection less than you would like. Also, if you like our LPF puzzles, let the store know (politely, of course). Or send an e-mail to their headquarters on their website. They do listen to feedback. And feel free to tell them how much you like LPF puzzles.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

JP

2010-03-11T23:07:00.003-05:00

Folks contact the Lafayette Puzzle Factory every imaginable way. E-mails, notes on our website, phone calls, and letters. It is the letters that fascinate me. They are usually formal letters on stationary. The writer uses cursive. I admit, I sometimes have a hard time reading cursive. Even though the cursive in the letters is neat and formal. I just do not read or write in cursive very much (ever).

The letters are pleasant with terrific penmanship and grammer. I always write back. Two of these folks have become pen pals. It seems they do not really have access to computers. I am not sure why, but they do not. So we write to each other. They tell me what puzzles they have bought and assembled lately. Often, they have suggestions for me on images or piece counts. They also tell me about competitors puzzles. Sometimes they complain about the prices of puzzles (usually not ours) or the poor quality (again, not ours). Frustratingly, they often are frustrated that they can not find every puzzle we make at their local puzzle store.

I assume the letter writers are older than me. I think folks in my age group (I am 42) use e-mail much more often than pen and paper. Its quicker and easier. I coached a basketball team this winter. One of the assistants was 20 years old (he is an older brother of one of the team members). E-mail seemed old fashion to him. He rarely checked his. He communicated via Facebook and texts on his phone.

I have enjoyed my new found pen pals. I do not handwrite my letters back. I type them on the computer and print them out. I use nice paper (I went and bought some just for my pen pals) and I sign my name as neatly as possible. I do not want my pen pals to think I am completely uncultured.

JP

2010-03-07T23:06:00.002-05:00

This is the first week since Jan 1 that I am not scheduled to travel anywhere either by plane or car. When you are the new guys on the block you go where ever someone will listen to you pitch your product line. We had a great first year in 2009 and are looking to build on that foundation this year with more retailers in new parts of the country.

The one thing I never did in the puzzle industry was selling. I never met a buyer face to face until I started the Lafayette Puzzle Factory. I had never sat in on a puzzle presentation or taken part in any of the direct selling until my first appointment last year. I am still not sure I am doing it right or like other people do it. So I over compensate. I bring everything I can think of to every appointment. I bring in samples, spreadsheets, bound presentations, computer powerpoint presentations, movie posters, popular best selling books, samples from other countries, and glued together puzzles. We have a line of cupcake puzzles and to a few meetings I brought cupcakes with me! I had to buy a cart to haul everything I bring with me to the meetings. I feel ridiculous sometimes walking into a building with my cart of goods. I never see anyone else with carts like me.

I bring all this stuff with me. And then when the meeting starts, I barely use any of it. Although each meeting I pull out something different. Maybe one meeting feels like a powerpoint presentation would work. The next just the excel spreadsheet tells the story. The cupcakes were a hit! It all depends on the buyer and the prop I think I need to make the case for our puzzles.

I will tell you that in every meeting I use samples of our puzzles. And ultimately, they are my best prop. They clearly show why our puzzles are superior. They show the bright, clear, colorful pictures. They show the quality of the puzzle board and the box. They show the small things we do with our packaging that makes the product that much nicer for the consumer.

My samples are my most important prop. But I still bring everything. I bring them because as we are talking I think of additional information I can share. And then I know I have that information with me. Sometimes it is information about the puzzle catagory at a macro level. Other times, it is a question specific to the types of puzzles the particular retailer is carrying. I like knowing I have that information close by.

I still am not very good at selling. I have collected a few horror stories that I will share when the wounds are not so raw. But I am really good at explaining why my puzzles are better than everyone elses. And at the end of the day, I think that is all anyone cares about.

2010-02-28T06:33:00.002-05:00

Heard from a Lafayette Puzzle Factory fan this week. He wrote a letter to let us know he had recently assembled several of our puzzles. He congratulated us on our bright colors and clear images. He found the puzzle to be challenging in an enjoyable way.

His note suggested he had done a lot of puzzles and was familiar with the various companies packaging. He listed for me the plus's and minus's of our competitors. He thought that our packaging and puzzles were comparable to the best. I was quite pleased with his opinion. I knew our customers were a smart lot.

But he had a complaint. His complaint was that he had done all the images at his local store and wanted more. I could feel his pain (and he added to my pain). We have only been distributing our puzzles since last April. Every single day we work to expand the number of stores that our carrying our puzzles. As of last year, we had puzzles in about 17,000 stores in North America. More in some international countries. But not every puzzle we make is available in these locations. And stores run out of our most popular titles.

One way to solve this issue for consumers would be to give them the ability to buy our puzzles on the internet. So we have been exploring how to accomplish this for the last several months. I think we are close to a solution. I am not ready to announce anything yet, but stay tuned. Soon most of the items on our web site will be available to anyone with a credit card and computer connection.

JP

2010-02-19T16:02:00.002-05:00

I spent the last week in New York City for the annual Toy Fair. This is a big fair and it has been going on every year since the early 1900's (I should probably look up when it started, but suffice it to say, its been going on for a long time). Its held at the Javitz Center.

It is always a fun show to attend. Toy companies of all sizes there. The big guys like Hasbro. And the small guys you have never heard of. Most of the booths are open and you can walk around in them looking at the new toys for this Fall. I even get a chance to walk around other puzzle companies booths. Everyone does this, but I will admit it. I am usually the guy you see trying to be invisible, yet talking to himself. Either I am cursing myself that I did not select an image they have. Or I am wondering to myself how they could pick such bad puzzle images. Thankfully it is usually the latter.

The Lafayette Puzzle Factory did not have a booth at the show. Booths are really expensive and so far we have not thought it was worth the money. We still had sales meetings at the show. We just did them at restaurants, or Starbucks or hotels. Folks are pretty flexible and understanding. It seemed like lots of other companies do the same thing.

I will give one shout out to one booth in particular. They have a new artist. He paints these amazing paintings in under 5 minutes. He was at their booth doing demonstrations. It was very interesting to watch. I am not sure the paintings themselves are very good puzzles, but the way he paints is neat and it made for an exciting booth. Not easy for a puzzle company booth.

2010-02-10T20:39:00.002-05:00

As the latest blizzard moves east, I guess I was not the only person putting together puzzles in the snow (not in the snow, but while it was snowing outside).

Today I heard from fans in Maryland and New Jersey. They have been cooped up for days putting together puzzles. They called to thank us for making so many affordable puzzles. I was shocked. Calling a company to give a compliment? And to get two in one day? People must be going stir crazy. But, what a thrill! I loved both calls.

Keep your eyes open for new titles in your favorite stores soon. We have been filling reorders for retailers since the first of the year. The Lafayette Puzzle Factory makes great puzzles that are affordable. So stock up. And send me pictures of your puzzles and the snow. We are thinking of adding a wall of fame to our web site for folks to post pictures of their favorite puzzles. Curious if anyone would actually send us a picture.

One more note about the blizzard. Next week is the New York City Toy Fair. This is an annual event. It seems like every couple of years New York City has a blizzard during the week. I think 2004 it was 24" of snow. 2006 18" of snow (I may have the years wrong, but I am close). I was in NY for both. It was crazy. In 2004, I walked down the middle of Park Av in front of the Trump buildint at 8pm, because I could. There was not a car in sight. I guess because the blizzard came this week, next week will be sunny and warm. I can only hope.

Stay safe. Stay inside. And work a puzzle.

JP

2010-02-09T15:25:00.002-05:00

Lots of snow here in Lafayette the last few days. They keep canceling school. The way things are going the kids will be in school until July 4th.

But as a puzzler, snow and cold are great. We have a 750pc panoramic puzzle on the dining room table right now. My wife and the kids stop by for a few minutes and put in a piece or two. Outside the window are big snow flakes and the ground is pure white. I like the way the snow looks before it gets all dirty.

The snow is heading east. I hope our fans on the east coast have already been to the store for milk and bread. And while you were there, I hope you picked up a puzzle.

Enjoy the snow. Spring will be here soon.

JP

2010-02-05T01:16:00.003-05:00

Received a neat letter recently from a young girl who lives in Mississippi. She had bought and assembled several of our 100pc jigsaw puzzles. She had enjoyed them and wrote us a nice letter about the experience. We get letters from kids more often than I would expect. But here is what set her letter apart. This is fun. She included a list of image suggestions for future puzzles. The list had 42 things that she would like to see on puzzles. And you know what? Her list was really good. We have a lot of her suggestions in our line already, but she had a lot more that would probably make for good puzzles. Especially in the 100pc format. And the fact that they come from a childs perspective gives the list added credibility in my eyes.

I have taken her list and taped it up on my office wall. The next time we are searching for images, I will be sure to refer to the her list.

JP

2010-01-28T15:13:00.002-05:00

Crazy winter weather kept me from making several sales calls this week. Most of these appointments I have rescheduled for next week.

Air travel in the winter can be tricky. Bad weather in one part of the country can impact air travel in other parts. It also makes packing tricky.

When I started out this week, the weather in Lafayette was tolerable. 40's almost touching 50 during the day. Chilly at night, but not bad. I hate having a big heavy coat withe me when I am flying. They take up too much room and are too heavy. So, I left town with a light jacket. And a knit cap stuck in the pocket. By the time I got back the temperature was 8 degrees and windy. I froze running to my car. Boy was I glad to have my knit Purdue hat in my pocket. I may have looked dorky, but it saved my ears. Ahh, the glamour of business travel.

But I am not complaining. Neat things happen. Again, earlier this week, I was driving to see a retailer on the east coast. I was in late afternoon traffic driving along a river. Nothing special to see or do as the traffic crept along. As we came around a bend, I realzed I had seen the scenery outside the window before. As we continued the entire scene came into view and I realized I was looking at the real life scene of an image we have in our 2010 puzzle line. I was driving right where the photographer must have been standing (off the road, I hope) when he took the picture. I can not give away too much, but when we bought the image, I really liked it and could not believe it was taken where it said it was. I had been to this city before, but never seen this sight. It was an unexpected treat in the middle of a cold and slow commute.

When we update our web site in a few weeks, maybe we will have a contest to see who can guess which image I saw out my car window.

JP

2010-01-24T21:37:00.003-05:00

I hate when blogs start talking about how they were too busy to write a new post. I was busy, but I also have been wanting to update the blog. Unfortunately, I was unable to. I have been in Hong Kong at the 2010 Hong Kong Toy Fair since January 4. You might remember I attended this show last year too and had problems signing in to my blog account.

I had the same problems this year. Very frustrating.

But now I am home and am able to update.

I have really enjoyed hearing from folks about their own family jigsaw puzzle racing traditions. One person wrote to tell me about at their family gathering. As you arrived at their mothers house, she broke folks up into 2 teams. She sends each team to a separate room where there is a 500pc puzzle. They compete to see which team can finish the puzzle first. I sounded like things get very cut throat.

During the HK show this last month, there were times in between appointments where my team was looking for ways to keep busy. They started racing each other using 50pc puzzles. I can not tell you how many races we had during the show. Again, the competition became very cut throat with serious bragging rights going to the winners.

I will post some pictures of our showroom later this week. I will be traveling this week, but will find time in the evenings to post more updates.

Thanks for checking in. If this is your first time visiting, go back in the archives and take a look at how far the Lafayette Puzzle Factory has come in the last year. I was rereading some of the older posts whilie in HK trying to sign in. We really have come a long way.

JP

2010-01-03T11:43:00.003-05:00

Better Homes and Garden Magazine gets it.

They have declared January - National Puzzle Month.

From the magazine directly: "Looking to shake that sluggish feeling this month? Give yourself an intellectual workout and dust off a favorite jigsaw puzzle (JP's note: or go buy a new LPF puzzle like Puzzle Collector or Colorluxe). Piecing together a puzzle works both the analytical (left) and intuitive (right) sides of your brain. Puzzles also enhance the capacity for learning and memory."

Lets see if this link works: http://www.bhg-digital.com/bhg/201001?pg=18#pg18

I could not have said it better myself (except I would have mentioned LPF directly). The craftiest retailers know that January is a great month to sell puzzles. The nights are long and the days are cold (the nights are cold too). Great puzzle weather.

I am encouraging everyone to celebrate National Jigsaw Puzzle Month with as much gusto as you can mustard.

Drop me a note and tell me how your are celebrating.

JP

2009-12-29T00:54:00.004-05:00

We had fun with some puzzles over the weekend when the family and I were visiting relatives. My daughter and her uncle started to argue over who was better at putting together puzzles. My brother in law (the uncle) is never one to back down from a challenge. Neither is my daughter.

So we found a 100pc puzzle (LPF, of course) and had a contest.

Each person started with the puzzle in the box, out of the bag, and with the lid half way up the base. The clock started when the lid came off. Uncle B went first. My daughter was sent to another room so she could not gleam any hints. This uncle is in his 30's and has 2 kids. He has been doing puzzles with his kids recently. When he was finished his time was a rather slow 20 minutes 28 seconds. He got a little side tracked looking for a final edge piece instead of just moving on to the middle. Apparently, he was convinced the key was to do the edge and work his way in.

My daughter went next. She knew the time to beat, so that was a slight advantage. Her strategy involved flipping the pieces right side up and sorting them into groups by color. It took her a little time to get started, but when she finally got the sorting completed, she was off to the races. She posted a blistering time of 12 minutes 8 seconds.

Others in the family gave it a try as well, but no one else came close to the 12 minute mark.

I wonder if any of you have ever had a puzzle race? It was fun and will probably be part of our get togethers in the future.

Send me your best times or other contest suggestions using puzzles. LPF puzzles, of course.

JP

2009-12-25T08:55:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas!!!

While we enjoy our families and friends, we remember those who are not with us today.

The day is off to a great start. Last night was church and a beautiful dinner. Santa made it overnight and the kids are already trying out their new toys.

I hope everyone who reads this blog has a wonderful day and enjoys all that it brings.

JP

2009-12-23T11:27:00.002-05:00

The holidays are right around the corner. Lots of family activities, food, church, and presents.

But LPF has been humming right up all through December and even over the holidays work will not stop. One of the biggest trade shows of the year happens in Hong Kong in January. I will be leaving on Jan 4 for the show. We have redone our catalog, added products, and been busy making appointments for the show. Our showroom will be a the Grand Stanford hotel again. Only this year we have the showroom for 7 days (last year we only had it for 4 days). The extra days reflect the fact we have more appointments this year.

The good news is that most of our work was completed yesterday. Now it is just a matter of making sure it all arrives at the showroom and gets set up. It will take us a whole day just to set up.

So if you are planning on being in Hong Kong the first two weeks of January, drop me a note and lets set up a time for me to show you our lines. We have something for everyone.

JP

2009-12-19T14:26:00.002-05:00

Last weekend before Christmas. The mall in town is packed today. Lots of people out and about, even though it is snowing.

We have done all our christmas shopping. Maybe a few little things, but the kids main gifts are bought and will be ready for them come Friday.

My family will be arriving in town on Tuesday evening and then the holidays will really start.

The good and bad news is that I am having a hard time finding LPF puzzles in town. The stock levels are down and it is obvious that people have responded positvely to our puzzles. I just wish we had more on the shelves so everyone who wants one could find one. Don't worry, we are shipping more to help refill shelves after the holidays.

Also, I want to thank all those folks who have written me in the last few weeks with kind words about our puzzles. I really do enjoy hearing from folks. Especially when they tell me a little bit about themselves and why they bought a particular puzzle. I do listen and it helps us as we continue to add to our lines.

Quick explanation - I recently discovered that YouTube is a great source for music. Seems like every song and artist is on there. ITunes is fine if you want to buy a song, but they only let you hear a 30 sec clip of the song. On YouTube you can find the whole song.

Which leads me to this video. I have loved the song currently playing in the background of Cadillacs new commercial. It has a great beat and sound. I found it on YouTube. I is a great song to get your blood pumping. Enjoy.

JP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX2FeHjIUF4

2009-12-15T10:07:00.002-05:00

It was my birthday yesterday. I love my birthday. Always have. Always will.

The day was particularly good. The kids wished me happy birthday before they left for school. I did some work in the morning. After lunch, I met up with my wife and we did some Christmas shopping and other errands together. For dinner we had Skyline chili on noodles. My favorite! I have been trying to watch what I eat, so it was particularly nice to throw caution to the wind and pig out a bit.

After dinner I went and heard Matt Painter, the coach of the Purdue Mens basketball team speak. He is a very entertaining speaker. His passion for the game of basketball is obvious. He not only can speak about Purdue and the Big Ten, but he is tuned into to all of Div 1 basketball. The man is a basketball junkie. Gene Keady was there too, which made it extra special. The two of them should develop a stand up act and tour the country.

So I wake up this morning feeling a little bit older. But I am also feeling motivated. The future looks bright. I would not change a thing about the previous 42 years. And the next 42 will be even better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qrriKcwvlY

JP

2009-12-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

The hardest part of running a company is dealing with time. Time pressures can take on any number of forms.

1) Not enough time. Every minute is important and we do not want to miss any opportunity. This is why I fly to HK for 3 days, fly home and drive 6 hours round trip the next day for a sale meeting, then fly to Canada for 2 days the next day. Yes, its exhausting, but it also allows me to understand the goals of our customers. I learn about what makes their customers unique. And then we can make product that will maximize the retailers goals for its consusmers.

2) Focusing on different time horizons. This last week, I made decisions within each of these time horizons.

Immediate: Daily or weekely - watching and analyzing our daily and weekly POS data from products selling at stores right now. Shipping products daily.

Intermediate: This week thru the next few months - taking and producing orders that ship from now into the next 6 monhts.

2 to 6 months from now - introducing, selling and quoting our new lines that would start appearing in stores next Summer and Fall,

Future - looking at new licenses and artists that we would develop into new puzzle and other toy lines. These issues will not start appearing in stores until 2011

3) World time zones - We sell our puzzles all around the world. Like the old British Empire, it seems that the sun never sets on an LPF puzzle. But it also means that I have distributors and partners who are awake when I am suppose to be asleep. So I find myself doing a lot of meetings from the phone in the kitchen at night. Some times this works to my advantage. I can ask someone to complete a task at 5:00pm my time in Lafayette. When I get up in the morning, the task is complete. The person who did it was not up all night. The work was part of their normal day. Anyone doing business internationally knows what I am talking about.

In thinking about this post, I thought of this song from a long time ago.

Time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin' into the future. - Steve Miller Band

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1f7eZ8cHpM

JP

2009-12-10T10:18:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1t90Bg9wAw

I am not sure how to embed a YouTube video. Can anyone help?

Anyway, I found this little Christmas song to be something as a parent I can relate to.

JP

2009-12-08T11:17:00.004-05:00

I used to work for a puzzle company before I started out on my own. Our offices and factory were in a building that was built in the 1800's. Legend had it that they used to make wagon wheels in the factory. Later they built old fashion gas pumps. Sometime in the early 1900's, they made hat boxes and sold them to hat stores in Chicago. Hat boxes led to puzzles and since about the 1920's, the factory made puzzles.

Today that building is being turned into condos. It is really remarkable to think that people will be living in a building that only a few years ago was a noisy and dusty factory that employed almost 150 people. The building is brick and has huge wood beams inside. The floors are wood on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The buiding is well built and has a lot of history.

I am sure the units are really neat inside. As I understand it, each unit is 3 stories and highlight the architectural details of the building. Walls and beams are exposed. It has to be the most interesting interiors for a condo in Lafayette. I believe the first folks have already moved in.

I think having worked in the building, I could never live there. It would be too strange to know that where your kitchen is located used to be a die cutter or a lamination machine. Obviously, anyone moving in now only sees the high ceilings, wood floors, and exposed brick wall. But I would see the ghosts of over 100 years of manufacturing.

JP

2009-12-08T10:45:00.003-05:00

I love hearing from people who buy and enjoy our jigsaw puzzles. It really does make the day that much nicer when I get an e-mail from someone who particularly enjoyed one of our puzzles.

Just last week I had a nice conversation with a woman from the midwest. Puzzles and shoes are her hobby (I think she actually said shoes first and then puzzles). Puzzles are her way to relax. Living on a fixed income she recognized what a good entertainment value a puzzle provided. With the price of movies and books rising every time you look around, it is hard to find an entertaining activity that is affordable. But puzzles provide the entertainment.

As a person who has been doing puzzles for many years, I have never understood the appeal of very, very difficult or impossible puzzles. I do not see how it can be enjoyable (or a good value) to be stumped by a puzzle. In my opinion, for a puzzle to be enjoyable and relaxing it must be solvable. It might take some time and concentration (and a good lamp for light as I get older), but I want to finish the puzzle. It can't be too easy. But it has be realistic.

Those of your that do super hard puzzles (Buffalo Games has a line of Impossible Puzzles - they are sort of known for that line) tell me the appeal. And what makes a puzzle really difficult. Is it the die lines, the image (or lack of image), the colors (or lack of colors). Help me understand.

JP

2009-11-30T22:13:00.002-05:00

So, were you out shopping over the weekend? I was. On Friday particularly. Among several stops, I was at Woodfield Mall outside of Chicago. I seem to have heard that Woodfield is the #1 tourist destination in Illinois. More people visit the mall than the Sears Tower or any other tourist attraction you can think of.

When we arrived, we found the parking lot was crowded. But we got lucky and found parking without much hassle. We had a quick lunch and headed into the mall at about 12:30pm. The mall was definitely crowded, but not terrible. It was more like a very crowded Sunday than what you would expect on the busiest shopping day of the year. The good news was that most people were carrying bags. People were not just walking and window shopping. They looked like they were buying.

At one store, they had a really good selection of Lafayette Puzzle Factory puzzles. They even had some on an end cap. Even better was that the inventory looked to be running a bit low. But with a little reshelving by myself and my mother (who is a puzzle expert), we had the shelves looking first rate.

What was really fun was watching people select puzzles. Especially when they would select LPF puzzles without my prompting. I also could not help myself and make a few recommendations.

There was one young girl who I watched select a puzzle. She spent a lot of time checking out each and every puzzle. She ultimately selected a great panoramic puzzle by Robin Koni. It is a very colorful underwater scene. It was quite pleasing to watch this transaction unfold. Especially since I remember our team picking this image for our puzzles over a year ago. We probably looked at hundreds and hundreds of underwater art scenes before we picked Robin's.

A year later, watching someone select that image over the 200 other puzzles in this store was really quite satisfying.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

JP

2009-11-27T08:27:00.000-05:00

Happy Black Friday!

2009-11-12T11:55:00.005-05:00

Have you ever heard of Flat Stanley? I must admit to only being vaguely familiar with him until this week.
Flat Stanley came to visit us from my niece in Cincinnati.
I'll let Wikipedia to explain Flat Stanley: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Stanley

Anyway, I had a trip planned to Toronto last week and I took Flat Stanley with me. We had a great time. Stanley is pretty small and slips easily into my computer case. He also provided me with a good excuse to ask for silly things from officials.

I asked the pilot if we could take Stanleys picture on the flight deck.

I asked the immigration guy if he would "stamp" Flat Stanley. Apparently, he can not. But he did do a stamp half on Stanleys leg and half off the leg. It is ok to have a half stamp on a non-passport. I think Stanley was ok with that.

Yesterday, we took Stanley over to Purdue University to have his picture taken around campus.

I have been going non-stop the last 2 weeks. In the last 2 weeks, I have driven over 1200 miles (I flew to Toronto, so this is not even including those miles). Having Flat Stanley with me the last few days was a nice distraction. And hopefully explains my lack of posts.

I have had some really nice conversations with folks who have been buying our puzzles. The response has been really positive. And it is incredibly the depth of knowledge folks have about puzzles. Every conversation I have with someone about puzzles is an education.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. If you are traveling, travel safe. It is rainy here in Lafayette. We are driving to the Chicago suburbs later today. I imagine traffic in Chicago will be a mess.

JP

2009-10-29T10:11:00.004-04:00

The flu has made it to our house. Both of my sons have been sick. The older one was sick all weekend. His younger brother came down with it on Sunday. He is still sick and will probably end up missing the whole week of school. We assume its the H1N1, but they do not test for that specifically anymore around us. The schools have been hit really hard. Last week the high school was seeing about 18% absence rate.

My youngest has it worse than his brother. He is miserable. I wish I could report he has been doing puzzles while at home, but he hasn't. He sleeps and coughs. One funny thing he has been doing is with some chalk. One of the puzzles we make is our Chalkboard Floor Puzzle. It is a puzzle that comes with chalk and kids can write on. The pieces are big and chunky. My son has been using one of the pieces and a piece of chalk to communicate. He says his throat hurts and when he talks it makes him cough. So he has been writing on a piece of the puzzle different words. Things like "juice" or "ok" or "yes". Its been pretty funny. And a use for the puzzle I never thought about until now.

Maybe I can have the first puzzle ever sold in the cough medicine aisle at the drugstore.

JP

2009-10-24T13:12:00.004-04:00

In this first real year of business, there have been a lot of unexpected surprises and joys. Until your products are in stores, when people ask you what you do for a living, it is a little awkward. When asked what I did for a living, I would say I started a jigsaw puzzle company. The next question was usually, where can I buy your puzzles? Before the puzzles were in stores, this was hard to answer. And very unsatisfying to tell people they were not in stores. The follow up question was usually, your wife works, right?

But now, our products are in stores across the country. And one of the neatest things I do is watch POS data. POS stands for Point of Sale. Depending on the retailer, either everyday or every week, they report how many puzzles we have sold in their stores. Since getting our products on to shelves this fall, I have been obsessed with POS data. It is the ultimate scoreboard. I celebrate the days that show big jumps in our sales. And scour the weather reports to see why the numbers did not jump other days (too warm outside, too stormy, sold out?). But it is all great fun. And helps us figure out where to take our lines next.

I sometimes wonder if I am the only person who obesses about POS data for their product. I know it is important for manufacturers to see how their products are selling. But, LPF is so small, the data feels more intimate. We all remember who picked certain images or found a particular artist. We remember the passionate discussions to put a particular image in a certain piece count. The POS data acts as the ultimate judge that the persons passion was right. And so far, the data seems to show we all did a good job of picking images and formats.

I also wonder if I am the only person who goes into stores and poses for pictures with his products behind him. I doubt the CEO of Goodyear tires does that. Although he might want to. Its a great conversation starter. More on that another day.

JP

2009-10-19T10:32:00.007-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. It has been really crazy since Dallas. I got home late Friday night and spent the next two days watching or coaching my kids during 10 soccer games. Overall, they did great. My daughters HS team won the County Cup tournament. And my oldest son won his tournament in Indianapolis. My youngest son was in a tournament as well, but they are in a younger age bracket and did not have an official champion (unofficially, they won!)

Then last week was spent following up on our meetings in Dallas. The retailers see a lot of great toys in a short period of time. We work really hard to make sure our products stay front and center in their minds.

Here is a picture of our booth in Dallas. A lot of folks worked really hard to make the booth look as good as it did. To be honest, it makes the selling of our products that much easier when our visual presentation is so good.

We had a great spot on a busy intersection. I was across from Fundex and my friend Tracey, who is now the queen of puzzles for them. A couple of furtive glances suggested that she did a great job on their booth as well.

Next door to us was a really neat guy who sells fun and fast moving sports themed dice games. http://www.gozonegames.com/ He gave me one of his GoLo games (easier than packing it up and taking it home) and I played it last week. It was easy to learn and kept moving. I played with my sons 10 and 12. Both caught on quickly and enjoyed keeping score on the score pads. It is basically golf with dice. A "round" takes about 2 minutes. So the three of us could knock out a game in 6 or 8 minutes. Check out his web site and look for his games. They are really clever.

Our distribution continues to grow. I love getting notes from around the country from people who are enjoying our puzzles. I respond to every e-mail personally so keep sending in notes and e-mails.

JP

2009-10-06T19:07:00.002-04:00

Had a great day today in Dallas. Our booth looks great and is near the Starbucks and bathrooms. What limited amount of foot traffic there is at the show seems to pass our booth.

It does feel like the number of exhibitors and attendees is less than last year. The elevators are not as crowded and the Starbucks never had a line of more than 5 people.

The first day of a show is usually has the most activity. And the last day is usually the quietest. If today was the busy day, I am am really curious to see how quiet Friday will be.

As for my booth, it was a good day. Not very many walk in visitors, but our set schedule went off as planned and included many household retailer names. My sales team did a great job setting up appointments and showing our new items.

I was also very pleased with the write ups we had in several trade publications. We are introducing a line of Crayola brand floor puzzles at the show. The trade publications did a nice job of explaining the items and how they will appeal to moms and kids both. We also had a great response today to our new 3D puzzle line. The line is a big improvement over the current lenticular puzzles in the market. Lenticualar puzzles look neat when complete, but trying to put one together is really difficult. We have solved this problem.

More reports from the show and more sneak peaks at new products as the week goes on.

JP

2009-09-29T22:41:00.003-04:00

Things are very quiet right now. Next week we unveil our 2010 product line up. It will be great. We have signed a bunch of new licenses and artists. For the last 12 weeks we have been working on this line. We have created some really unique puzzle formats and matched them up with artists and licenses.

Almost everyday for the last 12 weeks there have been meetings, e-mails, phone calls, and other forms of communication to work out all the details of the products. Not only were we under the gun to get everything done and samples made for the show, but my creative director got married last weekend. She was really great these last weeks (she is always great, but especially these last few weeks). She planned a big time wedding and put the finishing touches on our line. I am not sure how she did it. I do not think she slept much the last few weeks.

So now all the samples are on their way to Dallas. Next Monday is set up day.

Our appointments are made (we still have slots open, so go ahead and make an appointment!). Samples are in route. And it is suddenly very quiet.

I can not wait for next week and see the reaction to all this hard work.

JP

2009-09-21T21:25:00.002-04:00

I have not found many blogs about the toy industry. The leader as far as I can tell is Richard Gottlieb at www.playthings.com. He does a good job of keeping his ear to the ground about the toy industry. I find myself checking out his blog fairly often both for his comments and the comments left by others.

This week he wrote an entry about a novel that uses puzzles in the narrative.

http://www.playthings.com/blog/390000439/post/760049076.html

I have not read the book, but with a bunch of travel coming up in October, I will grab a copy and read it on the airplane. I liked what Richard wrote about the ability of puzzles to bring people together. Everyone is looking for ways to connect today. A good puzzle, a cup of coffee (or Diet Coke), and a bag of popcorn is sure to facilitate hours of conversation and comradery.

Once you get to Richards blog, be sure to spend some time looking through his archives. He has a lot of insight about what is going in the toy industry and the toy aisle.

And if you know of any other blogs about toys and puzzles, let me know.

JP

2009-09-13T20:42:00.003-04:00

This weekend has seen a real spike in folks visiting our web site and blog. Our puzzles are on shelves all across the country. They are finding their way into peoples homes. The feedback from around the country has been great. I have worked for companies that sold products nationwide, but this is different. A lot of people have worked really had to make this happen.

In particular I heard from a person in Florida who is really enjoying our line of 100pc puzzles. I am glad. I can remember picking the images for this line last year and thinking we had picked a particularly good set of really cute and interesting images. I am glad you agreed! And do not worry about buying out all the puzzles on the shelf. We will make more!

JP

2009-09-07T15:59:00.003-04:00

A nice article in the Sunday paper here in town on the Lafayette Puzzle Factory. I wish I could claim all the credit for our initial success, but I can't. I have a lot of help.

http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009909060363

Overall, I thought the series of articles captured the mood in Lafayette quite well. Despite setbacks, most people are optimistic things will get better. They just are not sure when. But everyone hopes soon.

Lafayette does have a great economic foundation with Purdue University, the medical community and being the county seat. Add to that the heavy industry companies (CAT, Subaru, Wabash National) and their sub-contractors, and while things are tough, the economy is pretty diverse. We are not reliant on just one major employer like a lot of towns.

I am confident things will turn around soon here and across the country.

JP

PS: I should clarify one aspect of the article. I never took a buy out from Warren Industries. I resigned on my own after considering a relocation to another division in New Jersey. The job with the sporting goods company was with Tippmann Sports in Ft. Wayne, IN. Tippmann makes paintball guns. They are a great company and make a great product right in Ft. Wayne. I enjoyed working there and still keep in touch with many of my former co-workers. Anyone looking to buy a paintball gun should look for a Tippmann. I have an A5 with an e-grip. It is great fun to use and very easy to maintain.

http://www.tippmann.com/usa/default.aspx

2009-08-31T09:18:00.002-04:00

As we gear up for the unveiling of our 2010 product line, we send out invitations and press releases to buyers, newspapers and trade publications. Sunday, we had a small mention in the Lafayette Journal and Courier.

http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090830/BUSINESS/908300340&template=printart

The full press release details some of our newest products. I'll post it here in the near future.

JP

2009-08-26T00:50:00.002-04:00

A friend sent me this link. There are a lot of really amazing LEGO videos, but this one is really incredible. Hard to imagine spending 1500 hours to put this together. Wish I had that type of free time available.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qsWFFuYZYI

JP

2009-08-24T13:40:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to Philadelphia baseball player Eric Bruntlett for turning only the 2nd unassisted triple play for the final 3 outs in a game ever! And only the 15th unassisted triple play of all time. Eric's parents live just down the road from us and he attended Harrison High School. I also learned he is a Stanford grad. Talk about a good role model. Eric seems to fit the bill.

A career .240 hitter, but now part of the history books. You never know when you will get your opportunity to shine. Eric sure didn't until the ball came right at him at the right time. It might look like luck, but the reality is he has spent a life time practicing and preparing. It is great to see it pay off in such a high profile way.

Kicking myself I did not make one more bid on his autographed baseball at a local fundraiser a few weeks ago. Hope I get another chance.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2009-08-23-phillies-mets_N.htm?csp=34

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Bruntlett

JP

2009-08-20T23:33:00.002-04:00

Last year at this time, we were just deciding to attend the Fall Toy Preview Show in Dallas, TX. It was obvious from our booths location that we were one of the last booths assigned. We were on an alternate floor and at the end of a dead end aisle. Despite this terrible location, we were able to convince people to stop by and take a look.

This year we signed up the first day possible. Our booth is in a much better location. We are on the 12th floor of the Dallas Market Center in booth 12906. It may not be the biggest booth, but real estate is all about location. And our location is terrific. We are on the main floor, on a main aisle.

The whole team is working incredibly hard to get ready for the show. We have a great group of new artists, licensed products, new puzzle formats and some new product catagories in addition to puzzles. It will take a ton of effort to be ready, but it will be worth it.

I can not wait for this show.

JP

2009-08-14T14:59:00.003-04:00

Lafayette Puzzle Factory products are starting to show up on retail shelves. Over 17,000 stores will have our products in them by October. It is an exciting time. It is truly remarkable how much time and effort goes into bringing products to market. At times it seems like it will never happen. And now the product is on shelves. All that is left is for consumers to like what they see.

JP

2009-08-07T13:36:00.002-04:00

John Hughes died yesterday at 59. A total surprise. I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago in the area that many of his movies were filmed. I turned 16 the year before Sixteen Candles. My high schools detention was called breakfast club. I am loath to admit (although less so now than when I was a teen) that I identified with many of Anthony Michael Halls characters (especially in Sixteen Candles and the Breakfast Club).

John Hughes's movies captured a key time of my life. I still enjoy watching them today. Earlier this summer I watched Sixteen Candles with my daughter who is entering high school in the fall. I am not sure she saw it as I saw it. To her it was more like watching a history movie...What High School Was Like For My Dad.

Although he had not made a movie in years, I suppose I always figured he might make one more about my generation. Maybe a DVD release with unused footage or a directors commentary. As far as I can tell, he never did a directors commentary for his classic teen movies. That is too bad, especially now. Maybe he wanted to do it but kept telling himself, next year.

John Hughes will be missed, but because of his amazing movies, not forgotten. In some way they are the homemovies of a generation.

JP

2009-08-04T19:05:00.002-04:00

I saw that the Arena Football league might be folding. Although I have not been to a game in 20 years, I do have fond memories of the 1988 Arena Bowl at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago. I remember it being the first Arena Bowl, but Wikipedia tells me it was the second.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArenaBowl_II

It was definitely a different kind of football game. You have to give credit to the founders of the league. They found a way to take a traditional game, update it, and market it perfectly.

JP

2009-08-02T17:41:00.002-04:00

Here is an article from last weeks issue of Newsweek. Stave makes absolutely beautiful handmade jigsaw puzzles.
But the beauty of a good jigsaw puzzle is that it does not have to cost $100's of dollars. All you need is the right picture and a good table (card table or kitchen table are my favorites).
Enjoy the article:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/207384

JP

2009-07-27T08:10:00.004-04:00

JP NOTE: I have been traveling the last couple of weeks in Asia. Blogger knows I am in Asia and puts all the links in chinese characters and has a different lay out. Sorry for the lack of updates. Here are some notes I made during my trip.

Wednesday July 15, 2009 - PM
After a couple of long days in HK I had a chance to get back to my hotel before the pool closed. I brought a swimsuit and decided to jump in the hot tub for a few minutes. The pool is outside and the hot tub is at the head of the pool, slightly raised. It looks very inviting. The jets were working and I jumped in. Then jumped out. The water was ice cold. What a let down. Lets hope that is the last unexpected thing that happens. And they fix the heater quickly!

Friday July 17, 2009
More unexpected…
Typhoon heading this way. Category 3 for now, but could reach level 8 overnight. My first Typhoon. Should be here by 5pm on Saturday.

Saturday July 18 / Sunday July 19
2:30pm Saturday – I was sitting my the pool eating a light lunch (no hot tub today. Heater still not fixed). It’s a little windy. The pool attendant just shut the pool due to the impeding storm.

5pm Saturday – nothing. Light rain.

7pm Saturday – went to the mall for dinner and watched a gymnastics exhibition. I think one of the gymnasts was on the Olympic team last August.

10pm Saturday – No rain. No typhoon. Lady in the lobby said it is suppose to hit by midnight. Tired. Do not want to go to sleep and miss the storm.

11pm Saturday – Rain against the hotel window. I think this is it. No weather channel in HK. Dearly miss Jim Cantore.

1am Sunday – Going to bed. Moderate rain and wind at this point. Still cars on the street.

3am Sunday – Beating rain on the window wakes me up. Wow, it is raining hard. Very windy. No one on the street. (update: Apparently the number 9 Flag was hoisted around this time. Only one away from 10!)

8am Sunday – No rain. The whole things seems over. Or maybe this is the eye? Cantore, where are you?

10:00am Sunday – Passing showers, light rain. Typhoon has moved inland. Here is how another westerner spent the storm.

Monday July 20.
The earth gods are in full swing here in Hong Kong – Eclipse.
Eclipse in HK this morning. About ¾ of the sun was covered. I missed it. Somehow I forgot I was in Asia and might be able to view the eclipse. Looked out the window and wondered why it was getting dark. Thought maybe it was going to rain. Feel really dumb. Too much product development. Hope that making final decisions on images during an eclipse is good luck.

2009-07-05T22:50:00.004-04:00

I set up a Twitter account today. Not sure what I am going to do with it. Maybe nothing, but if you want to follow its www.twitter.com/LafayetteJP.

My kids are completely comfortable with all the different social networking sites out there. There are on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and others. As parents we know their passwords and do what we can to monitor their usage. But it is hard to be watching all the time.

Last fall, I started using a service call YouDiligence.com. For a monthly fee, they will monitor you childrens MySpace and Facebook accounts. Basically, they are monitoring the kids sites for the use of certain words and phrases. If the word appears on their profile, an e-mail is sent to me to review. So far, the word party seems to come up the most, but each time in an innocent context (ice cream party, birthday party, etc.). You can also customize the word search with your own words. I have not done this personally, but suppose that one could add names or nicknames and know who they are posting with back and forth.

I liked the service so much I wanted to find a way to tell more people about it. I had numerous discussions with one of the founders on how to best promote their service. We finally decided to set up a special web page. You can either type into your browser, www.youdiligence.com/puzzle or go to our homepage (http://www.lpfpuzzle.com/) and click on the link to Youdiligence. We are also promoting the service and websites on our packaging as a service to parents. The company would offer our customers their first month free and then a discounted monthly rate going forward.

I see this service as a tool for parents to help teach their kids how to be responsible on-line. The kids should know that the parents are subscribing to the service (you need your kids password to make this work). If there are inappropriate things going on with their accounts, this service gives you the notification you need and the opportunity to then discuss with your kids the right was to present oneself on-line.

If you have any questions, drop me a line. Otherwise, try the first month for free and see how you like it. I think you will be like me and keep your subscription going. And want to tell you friends about the service.

JP

June 2009 Playthings article about puzzles

2009-06-25T10:34:00.003-04:00

http://www.playthings.com/article/CA6662944.html

http://www.playthings.com/article/CA6660017.html

An interesting article in the latest issue of Playthings magazine about puzzles. As a catagory, puzzles are holding up well during these tough economic times. Especially innovative puzzles like those that the Lafayette Puzzle Factory produces.

And as a bonus in the article, my good friend and former co-worker, Tracey Jackson from Fundex is quoted.

JP

2009-06-16T00:57:00.000-04:00

Magazine and parent groups are starting to announce their awards for the best toys of 2009.

Lafayette Puzzle Factory will be appearing on some of these lists.

Stay tuned for details!

JP

2009-06-09T14:45:00.000-04:00

Last week was the annual Licensing Show in Las Vegas. Previously this show has been held in New York City. This was its first year in Las Vegas. I thought the change of venue was great.

This is one of the most fun shows I attend in a year. I am on the buying end of the transactions, which is always more fun than going to a show knowing that you have to be selling all the time.

But more than that, the booths are all fun. The latest movies, TV shows and cartoons are all trying to catch peoples attention. The highlight for me was getting a picture taken with Bumblebee the Transformer and sitting in the real Speed Racer. And not the new movie version. This is the car from the original TV show. The one I used to watch after school on channel 32 WFLD in Chicago. I can not think of another 70's star I would rather meet.

2009-06-09T14:33:00.000-04:00

This week our first puzzles should be hitting store shelves in Canada. Most are being sold through a nationwide distributor so I am a little unclear on specific retailers carrying our items. But the entire catalog is available. I cannot wait to hear how my friends to the north like the line. Canada is a great puzzle market and puzzlers in Canada know puzzles. They are not easily fooled by low quality offerings.

The first person to send me a picture of a Lafayette Puzzle Factory puzzle on a shelf in Canada will win an official piece of Lafayette Puzzle Factory marketing give away. Bonus points if you buy the puzzle and include a receipt of purchase with a glowing review.

If you are a canadian retailer who carries puzzles, drop me a note and I will make sure someone calls you about adding Lafayette Puzzles to your puzzle section.

JP

2009-06-09T14:05:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the long delay between posts. A few of yourhave written me e-mails asking for updates. And while I like sending out personal updates, I think this is easier for everyone.

Two weekends ago I traveled to Dewey Beach, Delaware for the wedding of Alex and Elissa. It was a great time. The wedding took place on Dewey Bay. Our hotel was right on the Atlantic Ocean. It was a nice hotel, but the lobby reminded me of the lobby at the Tower of Terror, with better light and less dust. And the elevator behaved as an elevator should.

The weather was perfect and many of our friends from around the country were there. The bride was radiant, the bridesmaids breathtaking and the groomsmen looked very...Scottish. Scottish? Yes, Scottish in our wool kilts. Its hard to dress up four 40 year old guys, but some how Alex thought of a way. I have been in a few weddings, but this was the first one that I ever wore a skirt too. And I liked it. Good luck to Alex and Elissa. And thanks for inviting us.

2009-04-14T11:50:00.001-04:00

It is a wild day in the offices.

We shipped our first orders for Fall 2009 last week. We are ramping up production for the fall and winter 2009 season. And we are starting to look ahead to 2010 and what our line up will be.

Our current offering is strong and covers a lot of what consumers are looking for today. But we want to expand our offering to meet all the needs of our customers. To do this, we are always reviewing new licenses, new concepts, new formats, new artists and even new products unrelated to puzzles.

Its an exciting time with alot going on.

2009-04-10T15:22:00.001-04:00

Its fun when I am out and about and get comments about my blog. I appreciate the kind words about Simpson the cat. He was a good cat.

This post is a quick informational post to my friends who travel. I travel a lot. Traveling is not really all that glamorous. The airplanes are dirty. The flights are delayed. The food is bad. And too often there is no food at all (update of the old joke: The food is bad and the portions are too small). But security is a big pain too. Especially taking off shoes, removing laptops and not being able to bring liquids through security.

But I must admit the TSA is getting better. I rarely encounter long lines anymore. The screeners do a good job of keeping the lines moving. They seem to finally have enough tables and trays for passengers to get organized before getting to the metal detector. And there are even benches past security to sit on and get reorganized. The new Indianapolis airport has a particularly efficient security area. I suppose that is due to the fact it was built for a post 9/11 security need.

Today I was turned on to a blog by the TSA that is both informative and fun to read. If more government agencies engaged in this level of conversation with the public, we might all have a higher opinion of government.

Here is the link: www.tsa.gov/blog/

Bob is the main writing on the blog, but it looks like he is adding other voices.

Check it out.

JP

2009-04-01T19:53:00.000-04:00

Puzzles are a universal toy.

When we first sat down to set up the Lafayette Puzzle Factory, we were focused on the selling puzzles in the United States. We thought of international sales as being Canada.

The big surprise so far has been the continued positive reaction to our products in other countries. The response from Australia, Mexico, South Africa, England and other European countries has been terrific. We keep hearing that our combination of good quality, innovative images and fair pricing is a winner. We knew this combination would work in North America, but it feels good to see it work elsewhere.

JP

2009-03-27T03:20:00.002-04:00

It has been a wild month for me. I feel as though I have been traveling constantly all month. The reaction to our products has been outstanding and I have had lots of follow up meetings.

I apologize for the lack of posts. I like using the blog as an outlet. I often type these late at night in hotel rooms or at my house. Its quiet and I can think without interruption. Often, the topics come to me as the day gets quiet.

This week was sad around the house. Our cat of 17 years died. He was a great cat. He and his siter were strays that my wife and her mother rescued when he was a new born kitten. He has moved with my wife and I at least 7 times. He hated the car and would howl the whole way from place to place. But he loved our kids and all the affection they gave him, he gave back plus some.

He will be missed. He was sick the last few months and was so brave. He went blind about 6 weeks ago. He still got around by remembering the lay out of the house and feeling with his whiskers and paws. He still knew when and where to beg for a scrap from dinner. And could always find the sun rays coming through the windows.

It will take awhile to get used to him not being around. He could hear me making a ham sandwich from anywhere in the house. Today, when I made my sandwich, it felt weird to not hear him running looking for a taste.

Thanks Simpson (and Sheba) for being such great family members. You will be missed, but we have happy memories (and great videos) of your time with us.

JP

UPDATE 6/16/2009: Neither cat was named after any person living or dead. They were named by my wife in the summer of 1992.

2009-03-13T15:34:00.001-04:00

I have mentioned before that I spend a lot of time in the puzzle aisle when I am out shopping. I meet the most interesting people. People who are really passionate about jigsaw puzzles. They know what they like and spend the time to find the right puzzles.

I often give these people my business card and ask them to call or e-mail additional comments. By now, I have quite a focus group of people who check in fairly regularly.

Their feedback is invaluable, although often they call with complaints about other puzzle companies products. Lately, I have been hearing about boxes that are poorly made (and fall apart so that the puzzles can not be restored in them), do not stand up properly when empty making it difficult to refer to the box lid, and pictures on the lid that do not match the picture on the actual puzzle.

I love these types of calls and e-mail. I forward them on or summarize them to the rest of the team. I want us to remember that the experience the puzzler has with our product is critical to our success. Too often I have seen companies spend too much time looking internally, and not paying attention to how consumers interact with their products. Being new and small makes it easier for us to respond to consumers likes and dislikes.

So keep the comments and thoughts coming. We really do listen.

JP

2009-03-01T14:38:00.000-05:00

As the toy show season is winding down, we are busier than ever. Retailers are already placing orders for next year. Other retailers are still making decisions and we are hustling with follow up information and samples. The days are busy and we are even working the weekends.

Obviously, some items in our catalog have generated more interest than others. But, I am pleasantly surprised at how broad the appeal of our lines has been. Last summer when we were putting the finishing touches on the line, we obviously liked every item that made it into our catalog. But to see the response has been incredibly exciting.

We have already started production on several lines and others will go into production in the next few weeks. In another month or so we will making sure everyone knows exactly where to buy our puzzles.

Now, if Spring weather would only come to Lafayette, all would be perfect. I want to start opening the windows in the office.

JP

2009-02-24T22:02:00.001-05:00

In Texas tonight. 80 degrees and sunny. Drove around with the windows down. I am ready for Spring in Lafayette. Hope I bring these warm temperatures with me when I get home on Wednesday.

JP

2009-02-20T18:21:00.000-05:00

I have always wondered about the Select Comfort bed. The whole bed seems a bit gimmicky, but still, I wondered...what is my number? Rush Limbaugh and others have a number. But what is mine?

This week I found out. I stayed at a Radisson for one night in Ohio. It was a nice hotel and in response to the Heavenly Bed craze, they have Select Comfort beds (they might be knock offs, I did not see the Select Comfort name, but I also did not look to close... I was busy trying different settings). NOTE: I just checked the Select Comfort web site and they are the official bed for Radisson. My results are official.

First off, there are two different settings. There is a setting for each side of the bed. Seems like a good idea. But I had trouble figuring out if I was laying on the left or right side. I could not decide if left or right referred to looking at the bed from the foot or laying on the bed looking at the ceiling. It turns out left or right refers to looking at the bed from the foot of the bed. Of course this is confusing since you set your number by laying on the bed looking at the ceiling. So when you are laying there it feels like you should be using the opposite sides button settings. After several tries I figured out I was on the right side of the bed (left looking at the ceiling).

The bed is pre-set to 65 when you lay down. That was too hard. I adjusted the bed (you have to be laying down while adjusting and you can "feel" the firmness change.

Next I tried 15 (the control is digital and moves in 5 digit increments). Way to soft (I felt like Goldielocks).

After several more tries I settled on 35. Not to firm, not to soft...just right.

I now feel part of the club. I can not wait for the next time I am with a group of people and we start talking about mattresses (puzzles and mattresses, no wonder I never get invited anywhere). I will be able to say with confidence, " I am a 35."

JP

2009-02-15T23:27:00.000-05:00

I am in New York this week. Its the Annual New York Toy Show, the biggest toy show in the US. I always enjoy this show. The number of exhibitors is unbelievable. I do not have a booth this year. We set up meetings around New York and are finding that to be an effective way to follow up with customers. Its a little more relaxed when we speak. I feel like we get to really know what the buyers a looking for in a more laid back atmosphere.

If you have never been to a Toy Fair, this is the one to go to. Next year go on the web site and sign up. You will walk a lot, but also be amazed at the amount of toys there are that you never see in a store. Some of the neatest toys (in my opinion), I never see at retail. I have no idea why.

Toy Fair has evolved in the last few years. It used to be the toy industry had a building in New York and everyone leased space in the building. There was a show at the Javitz Center at the same time, but it was mainly for smaller toy and game manufacturers. All the big companies were in the "Toy Building". The showrooms were all closed and meetings were by appointment.

A few years ago the Toy Building was sold and turned into condos (why didn't the TIA buy the building years ago???). All the toy companies lost their leases. So now, all the toy companies, big and small have booths in the Javitz Center.

This makes walking the show much more enjoyable. Companies work very hard to make their booths attractive. Some of them are so clever. I do not know if the show gives out any awards for booth execution, but it should. The competition would be fierce.

I think you can tell a lot about a company from their booth. Some are completely closed with walls on all 4 sides and a receptionist at the door. Others are totally open and even seem to encourage everyone to come see what they have. And the rest fall in between. Every company fears being copied by the competition. And I believe that drives alot of the booth design. It is too bad the industry has to be this concerned (see Bratz vs Hasbro for how much money is involved with a good idea/design). I guess I am just naive enough to wish that all the booths were more open and on the last day they allowed real kids to come in and try the products. I attended a candy show in Chicago a few years ago that opened the door to the public on the last day. What a great way to quickly know if a new product or company has a winner or not.

JP

2009-02-11T23:45:00.000-05:00

I am a huge Purdue fan. Last week, four players from the Purdue Mens team came to talk to my sons basketball teams. It was a really great event and the Purdue players all were outstanding.

One of the "stars" was Bobby Riddell. He is a hometown hero having attended the local high school. He ended up walking on the Purdue team 4 years ago and is now a scholarship player. Tonight he had a great game against Penn St. scoring 13 points and getting 4 assists and a blocked shot.

I think what impressed the kids was that Bob looked like a regular person. Maybe even an older brother. He is 5' 9". And he plays in the Big Ten on a top 20 team. He does this because he works harder than anyone else. And he is always ready so that when opportunities do present themselves he can excel. I think that is the real secret. Too many players in his position (maybe the 12th man on the bench) would find it easy to get on the team and just relax. Weeks go by when he does not play in a game. Then all of a sudden he is called on and he is ready.

I have no idea how long my kids will play basketball. But I hope when they hear lessons like this they realize they can apply them to all aspects of their lives. In school, with friends, and someday jobs.

Always be ready. Opportunities will present themselves and you want to be ready.

PS: Robbie Hummel, JaJuan Johnson, and Ryne Smith were all very impressive too. They encouraged the kids to do their homework and keep their grades up. All the right things. After they visited, I am an even bigger fan of each of them.

2009-02-10T02:45:00.000-05:00

Lately when I have been meeting puzzlers, I have been asking them to tell me their strategy for doing a puzzle. Where do they start. How do they "work" the puzzle.

The answers have been facinating. Most talk of sorting the pieces and completing the edges first. Then working their way in. Some go into great detail and spend time sort pieces. They use the box lid, base, and even cake pans. They sort by color or shape. One old friend of mine admitted recently that as a child he enjoyed putting puzzles together upside down! Using the image was too easy!

I have to admit that when I do a puzzle, I like to do the easy parts. Give me a fence or a horizon to work on. Anything with lines or strangely shaped pieces is where I excel. The area I am working on might be anywhere on the puzzle. Or it may not attach to anything right away. I figure I can always attach it later to an edge or to other areas people are working on. My wife is much more methodical. She likes to get the edge finished first and then work her way to the middle. Our methods actually work well together. Although, I did pick up one bad habit from my father. As we are working the puzzle, I like to take one of the pieces and put it in my pocket. As the puzzle comes to an end, it becomes apparent that a piece is missing. The whole family is put on high alert to find the piece. Couch cushions are turned over, sofas are searched, accusations are made. And then I reveal the last piece was behind someones ear the whole time (or maybe I "cough it up" if I am feeling particularly clever). I love putting in the last piece.

Although, the last puzzle we did had two missing pieces at the end. I revealed my piece and started to lament the quality of puzzle production today (the puzzle was not an LPF puzzle) when my youngest son revealed the last piece he had hidden in his shoe. Like father, like son. I was so proud!

How about you? How do you like to work a puzzle? Do you have any jokers in your family that mess with the pieces? Or would that not be tolerated?

JP

2009-02-05T15:31:00.000-05:00

I had a neat experience this week. I was at one of the major retailers visiting the puzzle aisle. I am loath to admit how much time I spend in puzzle aisles. For the most part, I can not visit a retail establishment without going down the puzzle aisle.

When I am in the aisle I am looking at the images, box designs, prices, puzzle sizes, who made the puzzle and just anything that looks different. I even take notes and keep track of retail prices at different establishments. It is cheap and effective market research.

Often I encounter people buying puzzles. It only takes me a minute to start talking to them. I learn so much from these chance meetings.

This week I met a couple who have put together 16 puzzles since Thanksgiving. They are not really brand loyal, but only want to do 500 or more piece puzzles. We spent about 30 minutes looking at every puzzle on the shelves. They had done many of them and knew the pros and cons of each. It was so interesting. And I think they got a kick out of talking to someone who makes puzzles. One thing they reminded me was that when you do so many puzzles a year, you worry about the price of the puzzle. They were very price conscious and would not look at a puzzles over a certain price point. This is a little counter intuitive from conventional wisdom.

But it makes sense. Puzzles are sold primarily in the 4th and 1st quarters of the year. When its cold outside, people are looking for indoor activities. But it is people like the couple I met who are buying puzzles the rest of the year (and there are people who are buying puzzles the rest of the year). The retailers would be smart to keep the heavy puzzle user in mind to build and sustain sales year round.

If you see a guy looking at every single puzzle in the puzzle aisle, writing notes and talking to himself, stop me and say hello. Or if you think of something you wish puzzle companies would do better/different/more drop me a note.

JP

2009-01-31T03:47:00.000-05:00

Friday night, my family and I went to the local high school basketball game. My daughter was dancing at half time of the varsity game (she did great). It was a heck of a game. Harrison High School has been struggling all season. In this game they looked good and had the lead the whole game. But Westfield kept it close and in the 4th quarter mounted a comeback and actually took the lead with about a minute to go. Things looked grim. The feel in the gym was that Harrison, despite a good game, was going to let one slip away.

Then two things happened.

1) Westfield missed the front end of 3, 1 and 1 free throw attempts in the last 2 minutes.

2) Harrison had possession of the ball with less than 7 seconds to go, dribbled the length of the court and scored a lay up at the buzzer to win by 1 point!

As we walked to the car, I couldn't help but think about how the game encapsulated 2 key lessons in life. Those keys are: Its the little things that make the difference and never give up.

We started the Lafayette Puzzle Factory less than a year ago. In that time, we have had to do a lot of little things. The big things are easy to identify. I have a good friend who does real estate development. The difference between himself and people who think they can do real estate development is his ability to handle the millions of little details involved in developing a piece of land. Anyone can look at an empty corner lot at a busy intersection and know that it would be good location for a real estate development. What separates those who do their profession well is someone like my friend knows how to plow through the million of obstacles to actually making that piece of real estate work.

The same is true with my company. We work on the little stuff far more than the big stuff everyday. Bringing a product to market involves making our free throws more than three pointers and half court shots. And what I am finding is that the more we focus on the little stuff the better the product or initiative we are introducing turns out to be.

And we do not give up. Being he new guy on the block, we have lots of opportunity to just give up. Its hard to get appointments sometimes with licensors or retailers. I have written before how we spend a lot of time introducing ourselves to buyers. Buyers at retailers are constantly inundated with companies wanting to sell them stuff. There are not enough hours in the day to meet with everyone who wants a meeting. We understand this. But they do meet with some new potential vendors. And we are happy that they meet with us. And they meet with us, I think, because we try not to waste their time or be annoying. We just simply keep telling our story in as brief and direct an approach as possible. We are respectful of their time.

The bottom line:whether it is school, business, or sports, you need to work on the small things and not let obstacles get in your way Take care of the small stuff and the big stuff (winning, grades, sales) will follow.

JP

2009-01-27T11:47:00.000-05:00

As promised, here is a list that was in the lobby of the hotel during the Hong Kong Toy Fair. I would say we were in pretty good company!

2009-01-26T00:44:00.000-05:00

Happy new year! Kung hei fat choy!

Its New Years in China. The year of the Ox. US industry is so reliant on China that this holiday has an impact on everyone. For the past few months US companies have been asking their China counterparts, "when will you be closing and reopening for New Year's?" Companies need to make sure they avoid supply chain problems by getting their orders in and shipped ahead of the holidays.

Our manufacturing will be closed for a week or so and our office in HK will be closed for a day or two (although, people will be taking individual vacations around this time). In some ways, this time is not much different than the time in the US between Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Anyone who works in a big company knows the bosses all take vacations during that time of year. Plus, the overall workload slows down (unless you work in retail) because the people you need are on vacation too. Things get done, but slower and with a bit less urgency.

These same feelings and culture are found in China. All offices close for the official holiday days. But around thoses days workers take extra time to ski (I hear skiing in Japan is incredible. Can anyone comment?) or head to the warmth of Bali. Factories extend their shut down to allow their workers to make the long trip home to see family.

One of these days I will make sure I am in China for the New Years and take part in the various festivities. Any holiday involving fireworks, dragons, and food, sounds like a good time to me.

JP

2009-01-20T14:06:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Mom!

And congratulations to President Obama.

My father died a little over a year ago. He was the son of a single mother and I think he would have related to President Obama's journey.

JP

2009-01-20T11:24:00.000-05:00

Written January 14, 2009 - Hong Kong)

I have one more day in Hong Kong. It has been a good trip for me and the company. We had a lot of appointments with retailers in the US and around the world. The fact that our products have a chance in other countries is not one that I expected to happen so soon.

In the next few weeks, retailers will be making decisions on what products they will put in the stores next fall. I, along with everyone at the Lafayette Puzzle Factory, will be eagerly awaiting these decisions. We feel very good that our products will make it to shelf, but you never know and I spend a lot of sleepless nights thinking about what I can do to keep spreading the word about our line of puzzles.

There are two more big international shows for the toy industry. One is in Germany and the other is in New York City. I am not be attending the one in Germany. The focus of that show is mostly for Europe and we do not have any plans to distribute in Europe (yet). The other is in NYC. I will attend that show, but will not have a booth at the Javitz Center. We instead have set up a few private meetings.

It will be good to get home and recharge my batteries before New York in February.

JP

2009-01-18T22:16:00.000-05:00

(Written January 8, 2009 - Hong Kong)

Walking around a trade show can be daunting. This is especially true of a huge show like the one in Hong Kong. There are thousands of booth, tens of thousands of attendees and very narrow aisles between the booths. Narrow aisles are a good way to squeeze in more paying exhibitors).

This is the 8th year in a row I have attended this show. From attending this show and others I have learned:

A good pair of shoes is critical.

I like to carry my satchel with me to hold brochures and business cards. I try to remember to make sure it is light and empty when I start the day. It is amazing how heavy catalogs and PR material can get on your shoulder.

Shows should ban rolling briefcases and suitcases from the show floor. Attendees who have these take up too much room walking in the aisles. I cannot tell you how many I trip over or that roll over my feet when I am walking a show.

Shows should be required to have aisles that are at least 5 grown men wide. And they should have traffic enforcement officers to move along those who stop in the aisles to talk. Get out of the way!

I only take catalogs when I am really interested in a company or a product. I am not trying to be rude, but it is impossible to bring back all the catalogs people give you on a plane. They are just too heavy.

I do not mind giving out my card and having someone follow up with quote or an inquiry if I need more info.

But I always seem to run out of business cards. I wish the shows would print a bar code on my badge that the booth could scan. It would save paper and cost for the attendees. And the booth could enter notes about you right away.

Pack a lot of business cards. When you think you have enough, pack more.

JP

2009-01-17T08:36:00.000-05:00

(Written January 8, 2009 - Hong Kong)

I attended a safety seminar today at the Hong Kong Exhibition center. The US Congress has enacted new and very strict safety rules for toys. Everyone is trying to make sure they are in compliance with the new rules.

Puzzles are generally a safe product. Being made of paper, there is very little risk for injury from a puzzle. But I still attend the seminars to make sure we meet or exceed any rules. I am a parent and the last thing I want is to see anyone harmed by my products.

2007 was a bad year for toy safety. I hope people realize that as an industry, the toy industry cares deeply about safety. Even though the new rules are very strict and will definitely increase costs to toy companies, no one is complaining about the rules. Everyone I talk to thinks the new rules are the best thing for the industry. The only issue I have heard discussed is the timing of the implementation. Companies that already have product in warehouses or on store shelves may have to destroy those products if they do not meet the new standards being enacted. As a new company, this is one worry we do not have. From the start we have made sure we understand the new rules and are in compliance.

JP

2009-01-16T15:26:00.000-05:00

(Written January 6, 2009 - Hong Kong)

Arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday night around 7pm. The flight from Chicago to Hong Kong is over 15 hours! It is a long time to sit still. Just as the plane doors closed, a passenger fell ill. The paramedics had to come on board to help. It looked to me like the passenger had overindulged on alcohol and had passed out. When the paramedics tried to revive him, he became belligerent and somewhat violent (he was small compared to the fireman). Anyway, the whole scene took more than an hour to resolve. Two good lessons, 1) never drink before a 15 hour flight (no matter how much you think you need a drink to make it through a flight like that) and 2) it is possible to make up a delay of over an hour when the flight is 15 hours. We landed only about 20 minutes late. Not bad. At one time we were traveling over 600mph!

Our showroom is in the Grand Stanford hotel. We have a two room suite. The front room has all our products displayed. I sleep in the other room. Its a nice hotel and a nice room. The director of marketing and a few others from our office did a great job setting up the room. Everything is displayed perfectly. And our new catalog is printed and looks amazing. I am so proud.

There are at least 20 other companies using the hotel for meetings and showrooms. Some of them are companies you know including K’nex, Ohio Art, and Leapfrog. It is fun to see our name among these well known brands.

We have had a busy first two days. Early Monday morning the meetings started and they continued all day. By day, we have presentations and meetings. Then at night, the team and I fill out quote sheets and prepare samples.

I think the buyers are starting to really understand our company. We are providing innovative puzzle ideas and manufacturing them to a new standard. No one is very optimistic about the economy in 2009, so our combination of innovation, high quality and outstanding value helps us stand out.

If I ever figure out how to upload a picture to this blog, I will upload a picture of our showroom.

More as the week goes on.

JP

2009-01-16T15:15:00.000-05:00

I was having trouble updating the blog while in Hong Kong. The entire web site was in chinese characters and I could not figure out which link was for signing in. Hope you didn't give up (you must not have if you are reading this) on new updates. I wrote several entries during my trip and will upload them over the next couple of days.

I did get some feedback on the blog while in Hong Kong (a quick shout out to our friends who follow in Asia!). One asked if I ever bought Yahtzee Free For All and what I paid for it. I am happy to report I did buy the game and we played it on Christmas day in the afternoon. I ended up buying it at Toys R Us for $18.99 the weekend before Christmas. It was sold out everywhere else I looked.

JP

2009-01-01T12:27:00.000-05:00

How did you spend New Year’s Eve? We took our kids bowling with a large group of friends late in the afternoon and then went to dinner with a small group of adults. But before we left for dinner, we opened a puzzle. The kids spent the evening putting it together. Even today we are still working on it as a family.

Putting together a puzzle on New Year’s Eve and Day is something my family has done since I was a young child. It is something I have continued with my kids.

Puzzles are a great family activity. And to further my point about the enduring value of puzzles, the puzzle we are doing is from Springbok and was made in 1979. I know we should be doing a Lafayette Puzzle Factory puzzle, but we have been putting LPF puzzles together for the last few months. The kids decided they wanted to pick an old puzzle from our toy closet in the basement.

Are there any traditions you have for New Years? Tell me about them.

JP

2008-12-31T13:22:00.000-05:00

I spent the weekend before Christmas shopping. I was in all types of stores from Wal Mart to small local antique shops. I was struck by the number of people in all these stores. But when you talked to the store employees, they all commented that people were spending less and just looking more. One employee had been working the same store for 8 years and thought that this was the quietest she had remembered. I think it is clear to everyone that our economy is hurting.

But I was also struck by what was selling. As you walked around the aisles, items that were priced under $12 were moving faster than higher priced goods. People still want to give gifts to friends, but they have less to spend.

When I started the Lafayette Puzzle Factory, I wanted to make sure that every product we sold was priced to be affordable. Puzzles are in many ways a recession buster. They give good value, offer a new challenge each time you put it together, and are easy to share among friends and family. In recent years, puzzles have gotten more and more expensive. The cost of paper and inks has definitely increased. And puzzles now offer more special effects than in the past (glitter, glow, foil stampings). A puzzle should offer many hours of play for much less money than other toys.

In the toys aisle you could see this very clearly a few days after Christmas. We subscribe to all sorts of market data that gives us details on puzzle sales at retail. But just walking around the different retailers puzzle aisles a few days after Christmas made it clear what was popular and what was not.

We are excited for the next couple of weeks. We have a busy schedule of appointments and based on what consumers seem to want and are willing to spend, our line of puzzles can help retailers offer their consumers outstanding value in these tough times.

I hope that 2009 is safe, happy and fruitful for everyone. Happy New Year.

JP

2008-12-23T16:37:00.000-05:00

The Christmas shopping is all done for this year. Our trip to Disney was our big family present this year. I am lucky that my kids are old enough to understand and accept this. The gifts for them get more expensive and smaller as they get older. No more big plastic kitchens with 10,000 pieces of plastic food, Big Wheels, or bikes. The living room is less crowded, but no less expensive. Now they want video games, Ipods, and (my daughter particularly) clothes from stores where the music is way too loud for me.

Then right after the holidays, I get on a plane and spend a couple of weeks in Hong Kong. The Lafayette Puzzle Factory will have a suite at the Grand Stanford hotel during the Hong Kong Toy Fair (http://hktoyfair.hktdc.com). It is a huge show and we have a full plate of meetings. My family has gotten used to me vanishing for a few weeks after the holidays. This will be the 8th year in a row I have attended the show. I do enjoying going and catching up with friends from around the world. Plus the weather is warmer than Lafayette this time of year.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah.

JP

2008-12-18T23:16:00.000-05:00

I have not found many blogs about the toy industry on the web. Maybe this entry will prompt someone to e-mail me others. One of the few I have found and read quite often is Richard Gottlieb (http://www.playthings.com). I met him in Dallas this last October. We actually spent a bit of time talking about the toy industry and puzzle companies specifically. Because he talks to so many different people in the industry he has a very deep understanding of trends. He also asks really good questions.

This blog entry by Richard Gottlieb (http://www.playthings.com/blog/390000439/post/740038074.html) is one of those good questions. KB Toys was a toy store that I grew up visiting at Northbrook Court in Illinois. It was a great toy store full of unique items. And Northbrook Court was a great mall with interesting stores (it still is). It is hard to believe that someone will not figure out a way to sell toys in malls again someday. I do not think the problem is that malls will not support a toy store. I think the problem is KB no longer had the right mix of toys for the mall.

In Hong Kong, I visited a large mall that had a store dedicated entirely to puzzles. Most of the puzzles were from Japan. Japan has a very active puzzle market. A lot of the puzzle trends you see in the US are adapted from Japan. Maybe that is what malls in the US need. Stores dedicated to specific niches within the toy industry. Starting with puzzles! I will write more about the puzzle store in the future.

JP

2008-12-15T03:33:00.001-05:00

Being the new guys on the block, we spend a lot of time letting people know we are out here. We attend trade shows, send articles and press releases to magazines, and finally call and e-mail buyers at all the different retailers. Recently, we called one retailer every 3 minutes for 90 minutes. We had their direct line and wanted to speak to a human, not voice mail. It worked. The buyer answered and we got our appointment.

Convincing people that our products and the way we are organized as a company is better than others is a lot of work. Buyers are busy and are constantly being approached by companies. But once we are able to get their attention for a few minutes, they see what we are talking about and how we can help improve their puzzle selection.

I guess the lesson for me is that having a good story to tell is only part of the equation. Getting someone to listen is just as important. And so far, we have been lucky that our efforts at attracting an audience are working.

And the lesson for a retail buyer reading this blog: give us a minute to tell you our story. We know you will like it and want to hear more.

JP

2008-12-11T21:26:00.000-05:00

I had lunch with an old friend this week that is looking to start her own company doing consulting work. She is really excited about this new adventure and it was easy to get excited for her. She has done her homework and knows what she is getting into. The business plan is well written and looks not just at the upside potential, but acknowledges the challenges and how she will overcome them. I was impressed.

With the economy being so uncertain, many people might shy away from leaving a secure position and starting something new. But I think a changing economy is a good time to launch a new concern. The bigger firms are consumed by responding to banks, customer’s financial issues, vendor issues, and other non-productive topics. But if a start up is smart with its cash flows and takes into account how to work within the new uncertainty, there is room. A start up is ultimately more intimately involved with its true customers wants and needs. And should respond quicker to those wants and needs.

I know that every day at the Lafayette Puzzle Factory we think about how the economy is impacting those who would buy our goods. Puzzles are traditionally a good activity during tough times. People stay home more and are looking for activities they can do with family and friends. Puzzles are a very good value. For under $10 and entire family can spend multiple hours with each other. There is good conversation, laughter, and time to reconnect. There are very few other options available to families today for that type of return on their entertainment spending.

We have worked very hard to create puzzles that meet the financial needs of the retailers and our end consumers. We meet that financial need for both by pricing our puzzles correctly and making sure they offer outstanding value. Today, with more and more people looking for quality affordable entertainment, we work even harder to provide it.

JPC

2008-12-06T11:53:00.000-05:00

Just back from a week at Disney World. It is snowing in Lafayette today. Makes me miss the mid 70’s daytime temps and sweatshirt weather at night.

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I attended the 2008 Chicago Toy and Game Fair on Navy Pier. (http://www.chitag.com/) It was really neat event. One of the few toy industry fairs open to the public. I took my two sons with me. We had a nice time playing games from name brand companies (Hasbro) and brand new games from very small companies. In some cases, the actual inventor of the game was there to show you how to play. It is a fair we will attend again next year. And the idea of opening to the public is one that other fairs should explore.

One of the games we played was Yahtzee Free For All by Hasbro. My sons really enjoyed this new take on the classic game. It played fast and kept their attention the entire time.

So I decided to put this game on our list of presents for Christmas. The next day Meijer had it on special for the week at $10. But, of course, it was sold out. Target had the game for $18.99 (I think).

Here is the strange thing. When we were at Disney World we visited Downtown Disney. This is an area of restaurants and shops. One of the shops had the game (great packaging, I spotted it from across the store). The only problem is the price was $28.99! I understand everything is more expensive at Disney, but this seemed extreme. Why would they have it priced so high? Do they actually sell any at that price? Do they even want to sell any? Had it been priced at $18.99, I would have bought it (it rained the next day).

Anyway, it’s a good game and if you can find it in the stores, you should check it out. And keep an eye out for ads for it between now and Christmas.

JPC

2008-11-26T23:19:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is upon us and it is a good chance to take a breath and thank those around us who make our lives complete.

This year especially, I feel very thankful. I have a terrific family that is as involved and supportive of this new adventure as any family could be. My kids are a homegrown focus group. Their honesty on everything I do is humbling. But, they also let me know when we have a winner. I am happy to say that everything in our line they like. And the items they did not like…they are not in the line. My wife makes sure I stay grounded and true to our mission. She is the glue that keeps the family together. Other than the 20,000 miles a year on her mini-van, she makes it look effortless.

My extended family is incredible as well. They send me updates from around the country on happenings in the toy aisle, competitive comparisons, and new product ideas. It is fun and reminds me that no one does anything purely on their own.

I am thankful to be working with talented, self-motivated, smart, funny people. When you start your own company you get to choose who you will work with. It was important to me that I like and respect everyone on the team. I do.

I am thankful for our business partners for their faith in us and our potential. I am thankful for my friends who know me well and have listened to me try to explain why I think the world needs another jigsaw puzzle company. And I am thankful to the strangers who answer the phone when we call. They listen to our company’s story and understand we have something different to offer.

I think we forget sometimes how interconnected we are and how much we need others and they need us. Enjoy Thanksgiving and go shopping on Friday (and Saturday and Sunday and everyday from now until X-mas).

Thank you,
JPC

2008-11-24T08:25:00.000-05:00

There was a nice article about Lafayette Puzzle Factory in the local newspaper yesterday. I have not done many news interviews and was unsure what to expect. I thought the article reflected our conversation pretty accurately.

One of the unexpected outcomes of the article is the number of former co-workers who sent nice notes of encouragement. It was good to hear from these folks and to see how they are doing. The article also has generated a number of good suggestions that we will pursue over the next days and weeks.

Here is a link to the article.

http://www.jconline.com/article/20081123/BUSINESS/811230346

JPC

2008-11-22T18:57:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my blog!

The time has flown since we launched the Lafayette Puzzle Factory several months ago. But the excitement of seeing our entire line come together makes the long hours and hard work worth it.

Since we started the company, we have been to the Surtex and Licensing shows in New York (many of the artists and pictures you see are a result of those trips). We also introduced our line to retailers at our first trade show, the Dallas Preview Toy Show in October. We were a late entry. Despite our booth location on an overflow floor, people found us. Another Toy and Gift Show in Hong Kong introduced us to potential markets around the world. The earth really is flat.

The feedback on our line has been outstanding and we have been busy with follow up appointments since.

There is a lot more to do before our products are on shelves everywhere, but we keep taking it one day at a time and are encouraged .

I’ll be posting periodically with updates on our progress, further details on specific products and stories from work and home.

Send me your questions and feedback. We can only be successful if we know what types of puzzles people are looking for in the stores. And maybe there are other products we should be carrying. Let us know.

JPC