If you are familiar with the Stonewall Kitchen Outlet stores (such as the one in Kittery), you probably also know that they have huge blowout sales a few times a year (usually in conjunction with three-day weekends, i.e. Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, etc.). You could score some great discounts on items that are about to hit their expiration date, first-quality items in which the label was not perfectly aligned on the product, or items that aren't up to snuff - such as jams that were runnier than they should be. All of these items were greatly reduced in price, and the best feature was that you'd get an additional 25% discount on your entire purchase.
Sadly, like many other things these days, the good times are no longer.
Gone are the major markdowns. Outlet items are now priced at just a slight discount from regular retail.
Also gone is the 25% discount. Now it's only 20%
And the wide and varied merchandise selections the Outlet stores used to have, has been reduced to just a handful of different items.
At first I thought that founders Jonathan and Jim were facing economic pressures and maybe made these pricing moves with a great deal of reluctance, lest they tick-off their longtime customers. Alas, that isn't the case. Jonathan and Jim sold the company to a venture capital firm (TA Associates) a while back. Good for them. It was a thirty-year journey for them and the thought of retiring with financial security must have been very appealing. Heck, none of us are getting any younger. Although I have no first-hand knowledge of this, I always had the impression that Jonathan and Jim successfully balanced the growth of the company with treating their employees well, making high-quality products accessible to a large chunk of the population (without getting all snooty about the brand), and managed to pay themselves modestly. I never had the impression that they were out to screw the customer and squeeze every last penny from their pockets. I also think this helped to generate a significant customer loyalty to the brand.
Now that the company is being run by nameless faceless venture capitalists the change is evident. I doubt any of the senior management at TA Associates makes regular visits to Stonewall Kitchen retail locations. Rather, they're motivated by greed; squeezing as much money from Stonewall as they can while watching Stonewall become an empty shell of what it was under Jonathan and Jim.
All I can say is that a visit to the Stonewall Outlet location in Kittery is no longer part of my July 4th or Labor Day plans. read more