A Glass Act
Who says art and business don't mix?
Making a living as an artist is a balance of talent, luck and
the creation of a marketable product. Erica Anenberg found her
successful balance in her unique glass giftware collection that
incorporates traditional stained-glass techniques with funky
designs.
Anenberg, once a photography major at California State
University, Northridge, shifted gears after taking a glass design
class. When she gave her newly created stained-glass boxes as
holiday gifts, they were a big hit with her friends: Through
word-of-mouth referrals, Anenberg garnered $13,000 in sales by the
following December. "A light bulb went off in my head,"
remembers Anenberg, now 29. "I realized I had something
here." So she invested her profits in supplies and a catalog,
turned an extra room in her parents' house into a studio, and
went into business as e-glass inc. in early 1995.
Anenberg soon landed a $60,000 order from Bloomingdale's.
She moved the business into a Van Nuys, California, factory but
found herself overwhelmed as she juggled all facets of the business
herself. She turned to the Los Angeles Times for a
"Small Business Make-Over," in which a management
consultant analyzed Anenberg's company. "The importance of
efficiency and organization was stressed," she says.
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Anenberg can now concentrate on her greatest business strength:
creative design. She's already branched out into making frames,
jewelry boxes and other products. "I'm trying to establish
a foundation for myself as an artist," she says. With
estimated 1998 sales of $500,000 and her giftware on sale in such
stores as Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, her goal doesn't seem
too far-fetched.
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