I've noticed that Albion hasn't had anything for sale over at Kult of Athena for months, since last year in fact. What is going on with their production?

Not sure I understand what you're asking. Kult of Athena has 3 Albion swords (Decurio, Machiavelli, and Ringeck)) showing in stock. Many others are available for order but aren't in stock.

Are you concerned because they don't have more than that in stock? If so, carrying stock is a financial risk. You have to pay tax on inventory in most states, so carrying something long-term isn't in your best interest. Buying something and having it on hand is also a risk if no one ever buys it from you.

Maybe they're only ordering from Albion what customers order from them. Keeps the financial risks/obligations down.

What exactly is your concern?

Had not noticed that but it looks like its mostly "usually ships in two to three months". Might be Albion slowing production. Might equally be Kult of Athena making some inventory choices. Unfortunately they (Albion and KOA) are the only ones who are going to be able to say with any degree of certainty, if they chose to.

Could also just be that the new(er) KOA site is a bit of a PITA for finding stuff compared to the old one (or that I'm just out of practice using it and no longer find stuff efficiently there).

Kult of Athena's inventory is an issue with Kult of Athena, not with Albion. Ask, "What's wrong with Kult of Athena" instead.

Albion is a manufacturer, KOA is a vendor. The purpose of a manufacturer is to move inventory and and the vendor's is to sell stock, is it not?

How is having empty shelves benefiting either one?

A phone call to either Albion or Kult of Athena would be more beneficial than posting your query here. That might get you an answer instead of useless speculation.

A couple of years ago I could have gone on to KOA and bought one of many Albions. Today I went on the KOA site and saw exactly ONE sword for sale by Albion, a Roman Spatha. It's been that way for many, many months, since before the holidays last year in fact.

Sometimes a guy just wants to buy something, without going through the process of ordering it and then sitting back and waiting several months until it arrives from Albion. Instant gratification and all that.

Just sayin'....

Albion is also a custom production limited run manufacturer. It is not in their interest to produce a bunch of a limited sword with specific grip and finish choices made before a customer is found for that slot. Kult of Athena can choose to keep a couple swords in stock but it is their call and money on the line if they do it. I would take a guess that most of Albion's sales are not spur of the moment things given their general price point...at least not for most people.

Joshua:

I'm not privy to the number of employees Albion engages in the production end, but I would imagine it's not a vast number.

Due to demand, Albion is probably so busy filling their orders that the idea or even the need to send batches to a vendor who would more than likely expect some sort of discount for volume purchases probably makes little financial sense to Albion.

Not to hijack the thread, but K of A does stock a lot of Arms & Armor pieces, quite a few. And A & A makes some amazingly good products.

Jon

I think the question has been pretty well answered...

I'm sure if KoA had more people buying the in stock Albion pieces fast enough, they would keep more in stock. They are in biz to make money after all. Keeping a large quantity of inventory on the shelves for a long period of time is losing money for them... so they won't stock anything that costs too much or does not move quickly. Or, as was suggested, that they do not get a volume discount on... thus making it make sense to buy a lot at once.


Tho if you want any real, relevant answers as to KoA's stocking procedures, you would really have to ask them.

KoA has swords on order with us currently (in fact, we just finished one of them yesterday) and we will happily continue doing so as long as they want them. We give them the same priority that we give our other customers, however, so wait times can be long.

We also produce quite a bit for Albion Europe, Viking Shield, Christian Fletcher... as well as for our domestic and international customers.

I wish we could produce more on a weekly basis, but finding and training skilled artisans is not a small thing. 90% of the cost of making each sword at Albion is in the labor - which means skill and time, for which there are no shortcuts.

Why don't we just hire more people? Having a small staff means that training a new person almost brings production to a halt, which is difficult for any small business to manage. Not to mention all of the things that can and do go wrong on a daily basis, just like with any small business... (equipment breaks down, suppliers can't deliver on time, the government or the banks want more money...)

Not to speak for KoA, but keeping our swords in stock is not a small investment in dollars or effort - maintaining a carbon steel sword of any make means regular cleaning and maintenance (especially in a showroom where people want to handle the swords). Even keeping our small showroom of swords clean is an effort (and we are only open by appointment), so I can imagine that KoA has much more to deal with. (And why does everyone want to touch the blade?)

In short: we are still here, still producing, still working on new things to introduce and doing our best to survive in an economy which is not kind to anyone...

Best,

Howy

Great response Howard...

My own collection used to be 60+ swords, and is less then 20 now. Whenever people come to the house they want to handle and touch everything... and I have to clean the swords after... always a pain in the butt. For KoA... who maintain a public storefront where people come in and handle swords all day long... I can not fathom the pain in the butt it must be. :p

I hope to be up in your neck of the woods someday... would be so amazing to check out your shop, meet the craftsmen who make the swords I love so much, and take a first hand look at the many models I've not handled yet.