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lifestyle THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2016 Coloring craze poses headache for crayon makers oloring books for grown-ups may be the new lifestyle A slice of the cake Fundamental trend craze, promising ways to combat stress, unleash our cre- Gradually “we’re seeing a similar development in Staedtler is ready to stump up the cash, with the hope Cative spirit and generally take time out from our increas- European countries, too,” said Horst Brinkmann, head of that “if the market falls again, we can use the machines for dif- ingly tech-frazzled, gadget-obsessed lives. But for the makers marketing and sales at rival Stabilo Schwan, which makes ferent types of products,” Martin said. But rival makers are bet- of crayons and color pencils, the trend also poses a fundamen- fluorescent marker pens and colored pencils as well. All the ting on the durability of the new trend. tal strategic question: is the current boom in demand just a players in the sector are keen to get a slice of the cake. At Caran d’Ache, “we have invested in production equip- passing fad or is it a new sustainable trend? Stabilo has launched a set of crayons and book with spring ment and extended working hours,” said president Carole “I dream about crayons at night,” says Andreas Martin, who motifs. Swiss upmarket maker Caran d’Ache has published Hubscher. The company sets great store by being a “Swiss manages a factory of the manufacturer Staedtler in its own coloring book of Alpine scenes. Made” brand and “there is no question of relocating to boost Nuremberg, southern Germany. Staedtler is a small family-run Without revealing any figures, Brinkmann said Stabilo’s production,” she said. Hubscher is convinced that writing and firm employing a workforce of around 2,000 and has seen sales of crayons had risen by more than 10 percent while drawing “won’t disappear.” demand for some of its colored pencils explode, more or less the colouring craze enabled Staedtler to lift its sales by 14 And “our growth targets are not solely built on trends,” she overnight. percent last year to 322 million euros ($350 million). “That’s argued. Stabilo’s Brinkmann insisted that adult coloring “is “These are models we’ve been making for years and remarkable, in this age of digitalisation,” said Marx. But the part of a fundamental and universal trend towards slowing demand always chugged along unspectacularly,” Martin said. hype also constitutes something of a headache for factory down.” Nevertheless, “it’s important to continue to innovate in “But then all of a sudden, we weren’t able to manufacture chief Martin. this area” to maintain market momentum, he said, pointing to enough. It’s incredible.” Just behind him, a machine spits out “No-one knows how long it will last,” he admits. “We need the new “fashion within a fashion” of “Zentangling” or drawing yellow ink pens at a rate of around 6,000 per hour. Another to strike a balance”, so as to know much to sensibly invest to images using structured patterns. Staedtler chief Marx is next to it is currently programmed to produce orange ones. be able to ride the wave, while still keeping in mind that the more fatalistic, saying that a trend such as coloring is not pre- On the next floor down, finished crayons in a kaleidoscope trend could vanish as quickly as it started. dictable. “But we’re keeping our fingers crossed that it’ll con- of different colors are packed into boxes of 20 or 36 for ship- “At the moment, we’re making use of adjustable working tinue,” he said. — AFP ping to the United States, Britain or South Korea. Those are hours,” adding shifts, say, at night or on Saturday mornings. the countries at the centre of the current adult coloring craze, In addition to the 350 regular employees, the factory had An employee of the German pencil said Staedtler chief, Axel Marx. In the USA, nine coloring taken on around 30 temporary workers. But ultimately, the maker Staedtler fills graphite for the books are currently among the top 20 best-selling products decision is whether to invest the 300,000 Euros needed for a color pencil’s production in the pro- on Amazon. new machine. duction hall of the company. Berlin’s orchestras send refugees to ‘the clouds’ in special welcome or a while, I forgot everything,” enthused Mohammad tal when there was still peace in her country, but this was her first from Syria, explaining how he lost himself in the music in Germany. “There are people here who have come from all “Fduring a concert for refugees hosted by the world’s top around the world...but here, they speak the same language- conductors in Berlin. “We suffer a lot as refugees but today, I just music,” she said. Israeli-Argentinian conductor Barenboim wel- really appreciated the moment,” added the 25-year-old from comed the audience in Arabic, before kicking off the program Damascus who arrived in Germany three months ago. with Mozart’s D-minor piano concerto KV 466, in which he also He was among 2,200 asylum seekers and volunteers, helping performed the solo part. in Germany’s massive refugee relief, treated to the free concert in The 65-year-old Hungarian conductor Fischer led his orchestra Berlin’s iconic Philharmonic Hall. Three leading conductors and in Prokofiev’s First or “Classical” Symphony while 61-year-old their respective orchestras had teamed up for the special occa- British-born Rattle conducted the second and fourth movements sion: Simon Rattle with the legendary Berlin Philharmonic, Daniel of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, with each performance greet- Barenboim with the Staatskapelle Berlin and Ivan Fischer with the ed with a standing ovation. Corry Sindern, 49, a member of an aid Konzerthaus Orchestra. association for refugees, highlighted the significance of the event. “From the bottom of our hearts, we want to welcome you to “It’s very important for the signs of welcome to come from every- Berlin. There is something that we all understand-the language of where ... because there are many people who reject refugees or music,” said Martin Hoffmann, the general manager of the who are afraid of them,” she said. Philharmonic, ahead of the show. The atmosphere seemed much Germany took in 1.1 million asylum seekers in 2015, but skep- more relaxed than usual in the hall, with children dressed in fluo- ticism is growing among the general population over the coun- rescent sports jerseys clearly having fun in the audience. Finance try’s ability to cope with the record influx. Far-right attacks tar- Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was the only member of govern- geted at refugee shelters have also increased sharply, particularly ment to attend the event put together under the patronage of in the former communist east of the country. Ute Detka, 54, a vol- Chancellor Angela Merkel. unteer at the Berlin suburb of Reinickendorf praised the orches- tras for their effort, saying: “It’s a very nice gesture. Music unites, ‘In the clouds’ breaks down border and tears down walls.” Maurice, 24, who During the 90-minute concert, the maestros and their orches- arrived from Cameroon’s Yaounde in September 2015, described tras transported the refugees to a different world. “It was surpris- the show as pure “joy for me”. “I would never had had the chance ing, it felt like I was in the clouds... It’s a perfect show with perfect to enter such a hall. What graciousness to give us something like Refugees listen to a general rehearsal of the Deutsches Kammerochester Berlin chamber orchestra in a shelter for asy- music. Thank you very much,” said Mayssara, 38, from Damascus. that,” he said. — AFP lum seekers in Berlin. — AFP She said she enjoyed going to such concerts in the Syrian capi- ‘Coronation Street’ creator Tony Warren dies at 79 ritish writer Tony Warren, who created the long-running series set in a working-class street in northwestern England, TV soaps, which to this day offer grit rather than the gloss of soap opera “Coronation Street,” has died at 79. The show where he had grown up. He wrote the initial 13-episode run of their American counterparts. “Coronation Street” still has mil- Bhe leaves behind is 56 years old, a national cultural fix- what was originally called “Florizel Street” - renamed before it lions of regular viewers and a surprising range of fans around ture whose fans have included royalty, poets, rappers and mil- was first broadcast in December 1960. the world. Prince Charles once made a cameo appearance, lions of TV viewers. Broadcaster ITV said Wednesday that Some TV executives had their doubts about the program, and his wife Camilla pulled a pint in fictional pub The Rovers Warren died Tuesday night, “surrounded by his loving friends,” calling the characters’ northern speech “the language of the Return during a 2010 visit to the set. The late poet laureate after a short illness. music halls.” But its workaday setting, memorable characters, John Betjeman compared “Corrie” to the novels of Charles Anthony McVay Simpson - Warren was a stage name - was dramatic story lines and tart northern humor was a hit. Dickens, while Snoop Dogg recorded a message for its 50th a 24-year-old actor when he had the idea for a television “Corrie” - as it is popularly known - set the model for British anniversary. For Warren, the show’s success had a dark side. He said in a 2010 interview that the pressure of creating it left him addict- ed to alcohol and morphine for many years.

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