Father-Husband-Marketer-Geek

In a news article I found on the St. Paul Business Journal , a former Dept. 56 executive has launched his own giftware company. From the article: "David Dewey, who helped develop the hand-crafted lighted villages and other lines that made Department 56 famous, started One Hundred 80 degrees in January 2008 with Tennessee -based designer Stephen Brown. The new giftware business already had more than $1 million in orders from retailers this year, more than triple the $300,000 in orders it had at the same time in 2008. This year, Dewey believes he’s on track to more than double the $2 million in revenue he had in 2008. Such growth is an achievement in an industry that has been taking a beating as Americans concerned about their pocketbooks turn away from discretionary spending." There is no product information available from their company website , but you can read some extended biographies on the founders. It looks like they will have a Christmas line, Halloween line and Glitt