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The Craft Pedlars, Inc. Who Are We?
In 1966, after a year of recovery from major heart surgery, Paul Sayre was told by the large corporation he worked for that he was no longer needed. Unemployed, broke, and living in Southern California, he and his wife Denny started a graphics arts supply Company, selling photographic supplies and equipment to large business such as Lockheed-Martin and other aerospace companies. In 1969, while still struggling to make ends meet, and with no health insurance, their son Mark was diagnosed with cancer. With major bills mounting, Paul & Denny decided to change directions and started working at open air markets selling products from a supplier out of Mexico. The items included cotton shirts, blouses and baskets. This venture progressed to opening a retail shop with women’s wear, but eventually determined the Flea Markets to be more lucrative. Terri, their daughter, worked these outdoor shows while finishing high school and college. Simultaneously, their son’s health went from bad to worse and he passed away in 1970.
With the basket business doing very well, Paul and Denny looked into baskets from a lot of other sources and found a company who aided them with importing merchandise directly. Initially, products came from China. Then, in 1978, Paul and Terri adventured to the Philippines and found great suppliers for a wide variety of products. “The Basket Pedlars”, was formed by Paul, Denny and Terri. They opened several retail shops while still working the fairs. Father, mother, and daughter put in a lot of hours traveling from fair to fair setting up and tearing down several days a week. Denny had a “regular” spot at a local weekend lot; and Paul and Terri had places out in a rural area where a lot of new goods were sold at discounted prices 3 days a week.
Asked by several customers about buying wholesale and/or in volume, in 1981 Paul opened a new division of the company for wholesale business. Simultaneously, the merchandise expanded into several lines from China as well as the Philippines and Paul and Terri established a growing export company with several employees. In 1985, Cristina Encarnacion joined the company as the manager of the Philippine offices. 3 Years later, Eric, Cristina’s cousin, joined the office to head up the quality control area of the business. Cristina and Eric are still managing the business today in Manila and attend trade shows here every year!
Eventually, The Basket Pedlars progressed into solely a wholesale business handling craft supplies only from the Philippines. As Paul’s health began to become a challenge, Terri was handling the larger accounts from her new home in the San Francisco area. When Paul passed away in 1997, Terri took over the business and moved it to Northern California. The business name changed to The Craf-T Pedlars in 1995 and then incorporated as The Craft Pedlars in 2005 with Terri Johnson as the sole owner.
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