Needless to say, Fenton Art Glass collectors outside the Mid-Ohio Valley were as concerned as their local counterparts after the announcement last week that the century-old company would cease production of its traditional glassware.
Debbie Coe with the 300-member Pacific Northwest Fenton Association in Oregon noted there's been no mention of closing the business.
"The words we're seeing are 'changing' and 'shifting,' not 'closing,'" Coe said Monday. "They're not producing traditional glass, but they can't continue to make beads and jewelry if they're not continuing to make some kind of glass."
She said members of her association will have some questions about the company's plans when Fenton Art purchasing manager Mike Fenton travels out west for a presentation to the group later this month.
"Our group is pretty outspoken, and I'm sure Mike will be bombarded with questions," Coe said. "So far we're not seeing any clear line on how this shift will be done by the company. But I don't see them shutting completely down. Time will tell."
Jim Wroda, owner of Jim Wroda Auction in Greenville, Ohio, near Dayton, holds eight to 10 Fenton Art glassware auctions a year.
"We just had a Fenton auction Saturday, and the crowd seemed a little better than usual," Wroda said. "But we also had a really good collection to sell."
Wroda said the announcement that Fenton Art is winding down production of its traditional glass line has likely enhanced sales of Fenton products in the short term.
"We sell Fenton ware from the early 1900s to more current collections," he said. "And we recently went to Knoxville, Tenn., to pick up a group of Fenton glass from a 90-year-old lady who wanted to sell her collection. And we've traveled as far as California to pick up a really good Fenton collection."
Wroda expects many Fenton glass owners will hold onto their collections longer now that the company is ceasing production.
"I think people will still collect Fenton glass for a long time, although they'll probably be paying more for it in a couple of years," he said. "And I have to give the Fenton family a lot of credit. Very few small businesses have been around and successful for more than 100 years."
On Monday president and CEO George Fenton said the company was continuing the process of reducing production and selling off glassware during its annual tent sale through Aug. 7 at the factory in Williamstown.
He will also be traveling to the Philadelphia area this week for two hour-long presentations selling Fenton Art products on the QVC cable shopping channel.
"We'll be on Thursday at 6 a.m. and again at 4 a.m. Friday," Fenton said, noting this could be the company's last QVC appearance.
"I doubt there will be more if we're not making our traditional glass line," he said. "For now we're just trying to plan for the sale of our current products."
The Williamstown plant's main furnace was still up and running Monday, and Fenton said it would likely continue to operate for a couple more days before the unit is completely shut down.
Fenton Art will continue to produce some industrial glass as well as the company's line of glass beads, but the traditional line of gift ware and collectibles will be sold off.
"That will probably take a matter of months," Fenton said.
Originally founded in 1905 in Martins Ferry, Ohio, by brothers Frank L. Fenton and John W. Fenton, the Williamstown plant was constructed in 1906, and the first glass was produced at the facility in 1907.
