Alvin & Co. Back in Business

Alvin logo

Alvin's logo will not be changing.

By Ed Avis

            Alvin & Co., the 70-year-old drafting equipment company that closed in September, will soon be back in business. The name and intellectual property of the company were purchased at auction in October by Ascendent, a company that specializes in acquiring historic brands, and that company is engineering the re-launch.

            “The process unfolded over time, but the idea that Alvin is going to stay in business is good news,” says Brett Bryan, who was the general manager of the previous incarnation of the business and was hired by Ascendent to run the new version. The original Alvin & Co. was founded in 1950 by Al “Alvin” Shoham, and had been run by his son, Scott Shoham, until the business closed. (Click here to read about the closing.)

            Bryan reports that the new version of Alvin will be a leaner, more efficient business. The new company will have a line of about 400 products, compared to thousands that the old Alvin carried. Specifically, the new Alvin will sell its higher end professional line and its scholastic line of drawing, drafting and design equipment and supplies. It will also continue the Prestige Portfolios line of presentation cases and portfolios. Bryan says the same manufacturers that crafted Alvin products before will continue doing so.

            The company will not carry furniture, nor is it continuing the Heritage Arts or Blue Hills Studios brands. It also will not distribute other companies’ products, as the old Alvin did.

            “We are returning to being a brand, not a distributor,” Bryan says. “We’ll have a very clean, focused drawing and drafting line. We’ll be a better, smaller Alvin.”

            Another change is that the company will sell its products directly to consumers through its website, though it also will continue to support its wholesale bricks-and-mortar resellers. “We won’t be undercutting our partners,” Bryan promises. (If you'd like to be added to the wholesaler's mailing list, email Bryan at contact@alvindrafting.com.)

            The company will be headquartered in Utah, where Ascendent is located. Alvin’s Connecticut facility is not part of the new company. Bryan says a new web site, alvindrafting.com, is being built. Some Alvin products are already available through Amazon, and the full line should be available late in the first quarter of 2021.

            As for himself, Bryan says Ascendent reached out to him during the auction process to ask some questions about the products, and then asked him to return as general manager of the new company.

            “I feel good about it, because it allows someone who was with the company cross the bridge with the new company,” he says. “Scott is happy to see how it turned out. He’s happy to see his dad’s name continue.”