Marjon's is a fourth generation, family owned and operated business. We provide retail & wholesale ceramic supplies and equipment. Along with specialty classes in our second studio, we also provide outstanding education in our Arizona School of Fired Arts (located at our Phoenix store). We got our start in 1952 and have been providing pottery and ceramic services in Arizona for over 65 years. We're proud of our roots as well as our accomplishments. We deeply love and appreciate our customers, staff, friends, and family who have supported us through the years. Sincerely, The Marjon Family
It all began in 1949, when Marj Hadley started attending ceramic classes which her husband Jon Hadley fully supported. Her talent as a ceramic artist brought her to the attention of a glaze manufacturer who contracted with her to create new techniques for their products and produce finished samples. Soon after they offered her a chance to be a sales rep for their company. In 1952 this interest became a new business and needed a name, so Marj and Jon decided on combining their names and came up with Marjon Ceramics.
They took the next step and moved a studio into an old farm house in Central Phoenix. Eventually in 1956 they had saved enough money to purchase property in a commercial location.
At this time, their daughter, Carol Richard, became an apprentice learning Marj's artistic skills and Jon's business techniques. Their combined efforts allowed them to cater to the retail hobby ceramic trade while also developing as a wholesale distributor of ceramic supplies.
In 1963, Marj wrote a book that was the first of it's kind, and is still the finest source of ceramic info for the hobbyist and teacher. It was titled "Beginners Manual for Low-Fire Ceramics". The public quickly accepted it and re-titled it by several names: "Marj's manual", "The Little Red Book", and "The Ceramic Bible"... all these terms came from the one book that helped so many newcomers and teachers in the ceramics hobby. The book was sold world wide and by 1980 had over 100,000 copies in print.
In 1965 Jon passed away and Carol was brought in as a full partner. In this time of re-direction the decision was made to expand the wholesale business and make it easier for people to own their own studios. Marj became the "teacher's teacher" and Carol passed along business info to interested people who wanted to become business owners.
In 1972, Marjon Ceramics (which had become Incorporated), opened a second location in Tucson, Arizona. With statewide distribution, the growth factor was even greater and the Phoenix facility had to be updated and enlarged: encouraging us to move to our current Phoenix location in 1978. Marj had the honor of making the first sale.
In 1980 Marj passed away, leaving a fantastic legacy of friends and family whose lives she greatly enriched through her love of ceramics. Carol passed in 2017 leaving a wonderful legacy to many ceramic artists.
Marj's grandchildren: Stephen Hieb, Eileen Shepherd, and Elaine Herbert; and great grandchildren: Shannan Vickery, Dean Vickery, Joseph Speissegger, and David Shepherd work actively in the same family tradition; ensuring continuation of quality customer service and products in the store and/or on the Board.
