SMC friends and fans…

We have thoroughly enjoyed creating amazing clays and glazes for you, but it’s time for Stone Mountain Clay & Glaze Company, LLC, to bid a fond farewell.

We began this company in 2010 with more than 20 years of clay and glaze-making expertise, a handful of trusty formulas, and a lot of big ideas. From day one SMC had a singular focus – to create only the highest quality products from the highest quality ingredients. SMC has always taken pride in delivering fresh, well-mixed and consistent products. We have always considered our formulas to be our art; and have consistently separated ourselves from our competitors by refusing to cut corners, make substitutions, change formulas or skimp on quality control.

Unfortunately, Ceramics is not an industry that is easily adapting to the shift in our society to large wholesalers, cheap alternatives, free shipping, downsizing, etc. Ceramic products are made from finite natural ingredients, mined from specific spots around the country, and in many cases there simply aren’t alternative quality purchasing options for manufacturers. Prices on these natural materials continue to rise dramatically (while availability continues to decrease) as does the price on inbound and outbound freight - making this an industry that has grown more difficult and expensive, rather than more accessible and affordable, to maintain.

So now we are at a crossroads. So many of you tell us that our formulas are among the easiest, most unique and most reliable to use. But you also tell us that price is your single most important deciding factor. SMC’s business model has always put quality and integrity above price, but unfortunately, the only way for us to continue to compete with other US clay manufacturers in the market would be to follow their suit – decrease material quality, change and/or resource formulas, shift to thinner bags, eliminate bag ties, and/or run clays super-soft to increase run output and stock longevity. And that is just not who we are.

Thanks for so many creative years,

The staff at SMC