Welcome to The Block!
Why Around The Block?
We know you don’t need another company to sell you paper and stickers, but we do know you need a supplier who will make your job a lot easier. We promise to take some of the challenges out of retail management and put a little more profit back in. Around The Block is new company formed by industry professionals. We know you from our experience at other scrapbook companies. Now we have our own company and want you to be the first to know.
To date, we have spent hundreds of hours on market research and product development. Our cutting edge products expertly blend memory keeping with home decorating, paper crafting with cooking (stay tuned for more!) and international trends with American traditions. Our products are fresh and modern!
It is an amazing industry, both rewarding and challenging for independent business owners. It’s our promise not to just sell another product to hang on a hook or place on a shelf. Our job will not be done until your customers are satisfied. We sell satisfaction with our creativity!
We feel confident we have the components needed to keep the industry thriving, small business owners’ profit margins rising and new product on the cutting edge, it’s all just Around The Block!
Meet some members of Around The Block
Sarah Amos
Sarah, an avid scrapbooker, has created countless beautiful scrapbooks over the past decade. She attends crops and scrapbooking get-togethers on a regular basis and understands the values and needs of the scrapbooking community. Sarah will wear many hats at Around The Block. We will utilize her many skills in market research and creative writing.
Erik Loño
Erik, an award winning art director, brings hands-on creative support to Around The Block. He will assist in product, package and promotional design. You may also know his work in the scrapbooking world as he has designed many paper and stickers over the past several years. He recently designed the Patriotic and Wedding paper lines for Around The Block. Erik is a talented photographer and enjoys tennis.
Steve Meenderink
Steve Meenderink has joined Around The Block as Sales Manager. He is responsible for planning and account management for key clients, and also for directing and overseeing Around The Block's entire sales rep team. (And he's no stranger to making customers feel right at home.) Steve's track record of achievement includes over 20 years of hands-on sales, marketing and public relations experience. Prior to joining the Around The Block team, he held a variety of sales positions in many industries including banking, office products and pharmaceuticals.
His three children, Mason & Mclain, twins, (14) and Blakely (18) are the major focus of his life away from work. He enjoys hiking, grilling and theater.
Trent Stanger
Trent brings accountablility to Around The Block. He heads up our accounting and bookkeeping and keeps all of our finances in perfect order. He has over 20 years of solid business management experience. Trent is a family man with a wife and 4 children. He enjoys riding a mean roller coaster, movies, cooking, gardening and golf.
Jennifer Straus
Jennifer, Around The Block’s creative director, thrives on the limitless design opportunities that can be experienced in the scrapbooking industry. With over 20 years of design experience, Jen has created products, corporate identities & brands and communication pieces for companies like Primedia, Karen Foster Design, ABC Television, AOL, Disney, General Motors, American Express and the HoneyBaked Ham Company. Whether designing a physical or virtual environment, Jen’s key design emphasis is to create harmonious yet functional works that might touch someone’s heart.
On a more personal note, Jen has many interests including basket weaving, sewing, painting, gardening and backpacking. She lives in Pleasant Grove, Utah, with her children Mallory and Wyatt and a menagerie of pets.
Cheri Wardleigh
Cheri is our wonderful data entry person and customer service receptionist. She is the friendly, helpful person who answers the phones at Around The Block. (And her office is at the front of the building, so if we come in late she's the first to notice...)
Cheri's track record of experience includes over 25 years of hands-on sales and secretarial work with her family's furniture business. Cheri has helped grow ATB from the early days to the world-wide reach it now has. She is an active scrapbooker having created scrapbooks for over 20 years as her children were growing up. She is mother to 4 children and 3 grandchildren. For fun, she golfs in a couples league with her husband.
Guinevere Wessell
Guinevere, president of Around The Block, is a scrapbooking and craft industry veteran with over 18 years experience. She has taught classes at CKU-R and worked as the Embellishment/Tools Product Development Manager at Karen Foster Design. She was also Sales Manager and designed product lines at a large linen and craft company.
Guinevere has experience with bringing product design to market. She has lived and traveled to many destinations in the Orient visiting factories and also worked as an import broker. One of her most rewarding positions included Acting Director for the largest Air Force Arts and Crafts Center in Okinawa, Japan.
