OCR Text |
Show ST. GEORGE NEIGHBORHOODS www.thespectrum.com — The Spectrum THREADS ally-known quilter who is currently serving an LDS Church mission in Kentucky. She and her husband Reed will return to St. George following their mission. “I have been using the Superior brand for some time; Gilgen said. “Just like fabric, they offer inspiration to my in-progress work” She said choosing the right threads can make or break the design details. _ Gilgen said she used a variety of Superior Threads in last quilt, “Golden Birches, which recently won second place in the Fabric Art category at the American Quilters Society Expo in Des e Continued from pg. 14 remain in business until he was able to get his present location built. He said he briefly considered moving his business and its tax dollars out of St. George because of his negative experience with that one individual. More. than one million spools of thread, of varying sizes, are on-site at any time. Raw product is regularly on its way from Egypt to Japan with finished product making its way to St. George. Purcell freely admits that his product is the ’ most expensive on the market. “Years ago I read a quote about price, quality and service; he said. “You can choose any two but the third will suffer. We chose quality and service. “Quilters are very qualityconscious, he said. quilts with Heather, teaching classes and traveling with Superior Threads all over the companies. The company’s success, Purcell said, is the result of a good staff. “We choose wisely and we train them we Purcell emphasizes education while his wife is involved He said the typical American company with a suggestion box gets one a year per employee. Superior Threads has received 900 suggestions, an average of in product development. 32 per employee, in the past “When I'm on the road about one-third of every month, I'm mostly doing seminars, Purcell said. “I teach about 12,000 people a year: In his absence, Todd and two years. Obviously not all are implemented, but they show the employees’ investment in the company. The way the company relates to its For the week of November 21, 2008 — 15 Theydiscovered St.George when they honeymooned here in 1978. They didn’t return until 1994, with stop- hang on the wall and a couple of samurai dolls stand in display cases. Purcell gets to overs via a mural which covers one wall of his office. More information on the company’s products is availableat www.superiorthreads. com. in Japan and Hawaii before landing here. The stopovers are represented in the motif of the company’s front office, where several wedding kimonos experience Hawaii every day customers, Purcell said, is through a free monthly e-mail newsletter title of vice president, man“that is educational and fun. age the company’s day-te- We have 25,000 subscribers around the world. day affairs. “Our goal is to educate ‘As long as the company . consumers because if we is growing and improving, can educate them, they will that’s my excitement, Purcell become a customer, he said. said. “Knowing there's always room for improvement keeps “We guarantee every spool us going. We keep asking of thread we sell,’ he added. “If it doesn’t work in your ourselves, ‘can we be better machine, we'll buy it back. If than we were yesterday?” we can get a customer to try So far, that answer has our thread once, we usually been ‘yes: Purcell said the have them for life” company has grown 20 perPurcell, who grew up pricent year-over-year for the marily in Washington and past few years. Oregon, met Heather, who Again, Purcell credited is from Australia, at Ricks that to his staff and to the College. Japanese management Annie Unrein, a local quilt pattern designer and teacher, is another who uses only Superior Threads for all her quilts, fashion accessories and organizational items. “I began using Superior's products when ' Heather Purcell asked me to make a quilt using my pattern Loves Me! for them to display in their booth at trade shows, Unrein said. “One thing led to another and soon I was demonstrating their products at Se eee “We're country: Jonathan Cole, both have the Moines, Iowa. not sold at any discount or box stores because of our price. We're in about 1,000 quilt shops around the U.S’ Locally, Scrap Apple Quilts in Bloomington and Quilter Works in St. George carry Superior Threads. Sue ee is a nation- model. The Japanese, he explained, use a consensus model in managing their Free Balance Screening. (435) 688-7600 1490 E. Foremaster Dr., Ste. SYM gt ews #120 2 Clubhouse access $1750 Yard care induded 4/25 Iz AAA at Quality Low Prices F Honieowner ») $695 & | aa Mga AAA Insurance BON CR atrmi yiec wiki ite sci) bal ORL | STORAGE BAYS! 5x10=$30, 10x10=$40, 10x20=$60 g |