June 22, 2008

By JOLENE CRAIG

Parkersburg News and Sentinel


WILLIAMSTOWN — Fenton Art Glass will celebrate Independence Day with their first QVC show booked since the factory announced it might close last August.

Jim Measell, associate historian at Fenton Art Glass, said the art glass company has made 12 to 14 items – including a limited edition cameo piece – exclusively for the July 4 show.

“We always have special items made especially for QVC shows,” Measell said.

The art glass company was last on the television marketplace in September, just weeks after president George W. Fenton announced the factory would wind down production and probably close by the end of 2007.

“The response from that show and from the collectors has kept us afloat,” Measell said.

That show was scheduled to run two hours and was ended within 10 minutes from its start because all items were sold out, he said.

“We were all flabergasted,” Measell said.

At the time of the broadcast, the company was preparing to end production within months and it is now preparing to launch the Christmas 2008 collection.

“We are taking it a month at a time and day at a time,” Measell said.

Fenton Art Glass has worked with QVC since 1987 with more than 1,400 Fenton pieces having been sold through the company.

In 2005, QVC held a live broadcast from the Fenton grounds in Williamstown during the Fenton Art Glass Centennial Celebration.