Coynes Company Vs Enesco: Vendor Smackdown

So today, I get two letters in the mail. One from Coynes Company and another from Enesco.

Coynes' letter says:

As many of you know, Country Artists in the UK became insolvent and on August 10th went into receivership; further on August 11th Enesco LLC purchased certain assets of CA UK out of receivership. Since then, Coyne's has been working very hard to procure all the Country Artist items that you have ordered through us. Most of the product we ordered on your behalf did arrive into Minneapolis, but Enesco has prevented us from taking possession and as a result we have not been able to fill some orders completely.

Coyne's has sought the assistance of the courts to be able to obtain the product to fill your orders. At present the court has declined to assist Coyne's. Coyne's, however, continues to pursue all legal remedies and will advise you of any changes as they develop.

The good news is that we do have some inventory available for immediate delivery and are offering some very attractive special to try to help you through this period of uncertainty. Please find the enclosed sheet detailing the specials and you can also find them online .. (blah blah blah)

So no wonder Coynes has not been able to deliver many items to me lately. We have about 20 items on backorder with them, mainly a Breed Apart and Tuskers but some Country Artist items too (no quick link available, sorry). I wonder why Coynes, when I call them about the out of stock items, does not mention this little issue with Enesco? It'd really help make me understand why there is such a delay on some rather popular items.

Also, today, I also get a letter from Enesco:

In August 2007, Enesco bought certain assets of Country Artists out of receivership, with the intention of distributing Country Artists' products globally. It has always been Enesco's intention to have an orderly transition and integration of Country Artists into our operations.

As part of that transition, Enesco made reasonable efforts to enter into a distribution relationship with Coyne's, including to attempt to order fulfillment through 2007. Those efforts included releasing all Country Artists' products for which Coyne's had already paid for, prior to Country Artists' receivership. Enesco has not held back from Coyne's any paid-for product. Ultimately, however, Enesco and Coyne's were unable to reach a long term agreement.

Coyne's has filed a lawsuit against Enesco, seeking to prevent Enesco from selling CA products in the US. We believe that the lawsuit is frivolous and have filed a motion to have the case dismissed. In addition, based on the court's determination that Coyne's is noe likely to succeed on its claims in the lawsuit, the court has denied Coyne's request for short-term relief prohibiting Enesco from selling Country Artists' products in the US.

The lawsuit has temporarily delayed Enesco from launching Country Artists' brands into the US. However, we are working diligently to support you through the 2007 holiday season and continuing through 2008 and beyond.

While the comprehensive CA line will be available in January 2008, we would like to inform you that limited quantities of select CA products will be available to ship for the holiday season. Blah blah blah.

Reading both these letters as they came in today was pretty interesting. I'm no expert, but it seems like Enesco is going to come out ahead here and get the Country Artists line. Enesco, much like Department 56, is really gobbling up the smaller lines lately in an effort to reduce competition.

I, for one, hope Enesco does come out on top. Nothing against Coyne's - I like their company and products. But Enesco would not previously do business with us because we are web based only. Given that we already carry this line that Enesco now distributes, I can't imagine them turning us down for an account again; which should also allow us to carry quite a few Enesco products next year.

Here's to hoping.