F+W is selling the Martha Pullen Company and its portfolio of books, patterns, teacher curriculums, in-person and online events, and online embroidery club to Hoffman Media. The sale includes the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo, a suite of eight consumer sewing, quilting and embroidery shows in the US.
The Martha Pullen Company was founded in 1981 in Huntsville Alabama. An entrepreneur in the sewing industry, Pullen founded Sew Beautiful magazine which was in print for more than 30 years and starred in the television show Martha’s Sewing Room which ran on PBS for 17 years. The company became a leader in fine sewing content and education. Hoffman Media bought The Martha Pullen Company in 2004.
F+W acquired The Martha Pullen Company from Hoffman Media in 2012 as part of a strategy to double down on ecommerce of “hard goods” such as buttons, beads, patterns, and fabrics, and move away from a dependency on advertising as a revenue model. F+W’s CEO at that time, David Nussbaum told Folio magazine that he wanted the company to become “the Amazon of passion markets.”Now, six years later, F+W is shifting away from ecommerce.
Kathy McMakin
The Martha Pullen Company is now led by Kathy McMakin who will continue to lead this division under the new ownership. “We had a wonderful relationship with Hoffman Media before it was sold to F+W and we fully expect to have that relationship again, even better. We feel like we’ve come home,” McMaking wrote in an email. “All along Hoffman understood the Martha Pullen business, and how it succeeded as a business: that relationships matter the most. And I think in the sewing industry, that’s the number one thing.”
Marlene Ingraham (left), here with Rhonda Pierce of Euro-notions, Inc. in Kansas, City.
The Original Sewing & Quilt Expo was founded by Mark and Marlene Ingraham in 1995 in Cleveland, Ohio and grew from a single conference to the largest consumer sewing expo in the country. The family sold the show to New Track Media in 2011. F+W bought New Track Media in 2014. The Ingrahams have continued to manage the show throughout and will stay on under the new ownership.
“The value of the event to the magazine business was never fully leveraged at F+W,” says Marlene Ingraham. “People in our industry connect the person, the face, the name, the personality to the product. A live event offers you the chance to meet your end users, meet your customers and engender their loyalty. Hoffman Media is a real family, teamwork, relationship-based company and for that reason, I’m really excited for the team that we’re back home. When you’re in the hands of someone that loves it and understands it, the sky is the limit.”
About changing directioins, F+W’s General Manager, David Pyle, told Craft Industry Alliance In an interview on October 8, “One of the areas that we’re going to shift dramatically is ecommerce. That part of the business has moved in a direction over the last few years that is no longer viable and we’re having to make some changes around how we approach that part of the market. Making great content and being in ecommerce and billing and warehousing and shipping products, those are different businesses and we need to get smarter about how to do that.”
In April the company sold Keepsake Quilting, a catalog business and brick-and-mortar quilt shop they got in the acquisition of New Track Media in 2014.
Regarding F+W’s events business, Pyle said, “Parts of it are challenged. So that’s another part of the business we’re looking at. We don’t have any intention of getting out of the events business, but we’ll be looking at it in the same way that we’re looking everything else.”
Selling Martha Pullen back to Hoffman is a way for F+W to shed more of its ecommerce portfolio as well as pare down its events business.
Hoffman Media publishes 11 Southern interest magazines as well as Classic Sewing. Based in Birmingham, Alabama, the company is growing its print portfolio at a time when many magazine publishers are struggling. Chairman and CEO of Hoffman Media, Phyllis Hoffman DiPiano, said, “We are excited to add this tremendously successful group of sewing, quilting and embroidery shows to our family of brands, and having Mark and Marlene joining our company to continue building the business makes this even better.”
Note: This article was updated on November 13, 2018, to add quotes from Kathy McMakin and Marlene Ingraham.
I have taught for the Sewing Expo for 11 years. Great shows. Mark and Marlene Ingraham do a great job and I’ve been treated fairly. This is the 4th sale since 2011!! I’ll be interested to see how this affects my contracts in the Spring! As long as they write the checks and pay in a timely manner (which doesn’t always happen), I’m ok.
Just to clarify, this isn’t the fourth sale since 2011. The show was founded in 1995 and sold to New Track Media in 2011. In 2014 F+W bought New Track Media. Now F+W is selling the show to Hoffman Media.
thanks for the clarification, Abby. My numbers were wrong.
To buy this magazines for do smoking dress for girls I need this address for send this money in to pay with check because I can do in online is too much problems for me I need this address because I long time I have problems in this I amazon because is take too much money and only I can do for send email
Post office hop your Understanding please help me to send to me address I want this magazines sew beautifully thank cincerely Margarita Stubblefield
I wish all the best to Marlene, Mark & Kathy as they join the Hoffman family. They are amazing people with a true passion for sewing and quilting!
As a Licensed Martha Pullen instructor this is the best possible news. Kathy McMakin and Phyllis Hoffman have done an outstanding job with the publication of Sew Classic magazine which carries on the spirit of Sew Beautiful that was one of the first casualties of F+W. I hope that Hoffman will bring back the retail and wholesale divisions so supplies will be more readily available. This also restores the access of many designers work that had been lost to F+W. The licensed teachers were all notified by Phyllis and Kathy the other day. Such good news!! Maybe Phyllis will decide to pick up some of the recent drops from F+W. I can’t say enough about the quality of Hoffman and Sew Classic.
This was the best news I have received in months. Can’t wait to see the education that will be offered. Sure hope the “Original Sewing & Quilt Expo” will return to the MN area again–hopefully
by 2019.
Best wishes for gteat success. I, too among many others were casualties of F&W, with the change in management. Martha Pullen customers were not happy with the discontinuing of much of the products. Hoffman Media pirchasing both of these businesses is a much bettet fit.
Do you have any idea where I can find needles for dr Joe pleating machine? I believe Martha told me at the Sewing Expo in the northwest that her husband made that machine and I need needles. HELP!
I was wondering if the Internet Embroidery Club has been discontinued for 2019?
Hi Nell, We are not affiliated with Bluprint (formerly Craftsy). If you have a customer service question about a club you’ll need to reach out to them directly. Thank you.
I think she is talking about the Martha Pullen IEC, which existed for many years at Martha Pullen Co.
Nell Barnes, you may or may not have discovered by now, but the Internet Embroidery Club is now The Embroidery Club. Just a few minutes ago found it on thesewingcollection.com. Hope this helps.
I was at The sewing expo in Cleveland in the fall and I am writing because I spent $250 on expensive fabric and patterns Etc part of which were some material that was taken home with the storekeeper at the expo to make me to dresses that just required the smocking for me to finish and she took the material with her home but I prepaid for all of it I also asked for two bonnet the same way that so that I could smoke them myself but the bond that would be finished otherwise and I have received nothing and I think it’s been long enough and I feel like I have been not treated fairly and getting this stuff to me I shouldn’t have to ask like 8 months later for something that I fully paid for in advance I have my receipts and I am not very happy that this has been totally unresponded to because they took my address they took all the information they needed they had everything and they had all this material that I bought also for the used for these things that we’re going to be made for me and I prepaid for every bit of it so I would really like some satisfaction here I am not very happy.
Hi Carol, We are not affiliated with that event. I’m sorry this happened to you, but you’ll need to reach out to the store owner directly.
So very sorry that the Martha Pullen Forums have been stopped. That was a big part of a lot of our lives and will be missed very much.
Belinda, There are several FaceBook groups you can join; search for ‘Martha Pullen’ find online instructors and face-to-face instructors (if you are one) or the Fan Club or the Sisters groups. lots of chatter, and answers to questions you have; also lots of inspiration. Also, Classic Sewing Magazine has a FB group, too. Come join us! Good luck.
Martha Pullen’s Expo shop had the very best knit fabric for baby blankets and other knitted items. Can you tell me where I can purchase it now?
Hi Drue, you can order from Mally +Mac. It’s Kathy McMakin’s company. Same great items and fabric as the MP brand.
https://www.mandmfabrics.com/shop/