Hello ,
I'm here at AW HQ.. already making plans for next year..
The last but one Friday before Christmas.. and we are on the final stretch.. hope we are going to make it :)
Last week I was telling you about the Plastic Purge that is underway at AW, you can read about it here.
Right now we are have one last big push to get as many orders as possible out of the doors ready for your mega trading week.. and the last days up to Christmas.
Tonight is our Ancient Wisdom Christmas party.. should be fun, that is.. if anyone has any energy left :)
Listening to Sports Direct boss; Mike Ashley saying dire things about the British high streets.. that retail is dead in the water.. It doesn't seem that way here. All our customers appear to be doing great, reorders are high and honestly we are still struggling to cope. My take on it is.. yes the corporate retailers are in a mess but the Artisan Retailers, Innovative Independent, The Enthusiastic Specialist, The Ethical Trader... you guys are in the antecedent. The meek and humble trader will inherit from the arrogant mega-stores. Welcome to 2019.. and one thing is sure whatever happens with Brexit, the thing everyone agrees on is that there will be disruption.. the light and nimble will find opportunities, the overhead heavy giants will lumber around drunkenly like.. well like Mike Ashley after a pub based business bash.
So it's Christmas time... and everyone is giving gifts. Isn't that great? Ever since some wise men came bearing gifts to give to baby Jesus have people given gifts this time of year.
We folk in the gift trade should be grateful for this gift: The fact that culturally we give gifts at Christmas, and birthdays and weddings is a gift in itself. In China they just give red envelopes stuffed with cash. Which if you think about it is pretty much what you (or anyone) would prefer to get.. right?
Here's another thought.. consider for a moment Rich people and Poor people.. you know some of both variety probably. Did you buy gifts this Christmas for them? Research suggests that people tend to buy more expensive gifts for rich friends and tend toward cheap tat for their poor friends. Why? Because when you sit and ponder that thing.. surely it should be the other way round. But human behaviour is a strange beast indeed..
When you do come up with the detailed answers to this dilemma. All those answers are just plain wrong. Go figure guys.
So here it is.. the penultimate newsletter of the year. Christmas is well and truly upon us and normally by now things are easing off at this end just as things really hot up at your end.. Right now it is still pretty hectic at AW HQ. Last of the Christmas orders going out, but at the same time we are receiving containers of stock ready for the Spring season.. In the last few days, a new supplier of Salt Lamps came online, a container of Bath Scrubs and brushes came.. (Lots of things back in stock) an Indian container and a China container are due on Monday..
And to cap it some new production items are coming online..
One thought.. we have some lovely rope incense from Nepal.. hand rolled, and smelling kinda Christmasy.. have you seen it?
See below..
I know you are crazy busy.. so let me just wish you a great weekend..
All the best..
David
PS
An update on our Christmas hours.
Our warehouse & offices are closed from Friday 21st December 2018 - opening again on Tuesday 2nd January 2019.
You can place orders, on-line or by phone for pre-Christmas delivery up to 12 midday on Thursday 20th December. We will do our best to dispatch all orders for delivery by Monday 24th December (UK Mainland Only).
Naturally you can place orders on-line at any time (24/7/365) including over the Christmas period.
We will start processing and dispatching your orders on Tuesday 2nd January 2018 in rotation - expect delivery from Wednesday onwards.