Wholesale David's AW News:Vivá España! The Heat is on. - Ancient Wisdom

Greetings from Malaga, Spain

I'm here at AW Artisan, the Spanish base of AW.

It's always a pleasure to spend time with Toni and his (always ready for a party) team.

Last week I was telling you about The End.. the end of the Spring Asia sourcing trip. And my day in cool Copenhagen on the way here to Spain. Also my slightly bizarre fellow passengers on Thai airways flight who looked like aging cartel members.. if you missed it you can catch up here.

Toni was travelling with me on that Asia trip, part of which we spent with Mr Chatterjee in Kolkata.. I just spoke with Chatterjee and his son.. "We are finished," he said. "it's mad hot here, feels like 50c - we are struggling to work - and the heat wave will last at least two weeks more". He is installing extra fans, cold water on tap and cut working hours. We sent our sympathies.. Chatterjee sent some pictures.

Even in Kathmandu, Nepal our suppliers report the hottest temperatures they can remember. So far the heatwave didn't hit Indonesia so badly, but it's coming soon. In China they have severe flooding, but it's not affecting Coco although it's getting warmer by the day.

In China we have now fully moved to our new larger warehouse.. And already dispatched three containers.. Tomorrow another will leave. Coco tells me it's a good job we have the extra space. And we also made a nice AW-China office.. still being decorated.. the sign is up but we have to find room for the Buddha statue..

Welcome to the new AW-China office.

It's not so hot in Spain, but the heat is still on. There is a looming problem that needs to be addressed. You see whilst in India we ordered rather a lot.. got a little over enthusiastic.. I'm blaming Toni, haha but maybe it's also my fault.. There are around 850 new products (on top of regular reorders) and that translates into lots of containers on the way.. and the warehouse (I mentioned this before) is already bursting at the seams. AW-Artisan has been growing fast for the last few years and has already outgrown the warehouse. We had this issue in the UK and Slovakia before we moved to bigger warehouses, so have some experience on how to deal with this kind of problem.. but they need to move quickly.. because all that stock IS COMING!! and we need to get a grip on this..

Juani is our super capable warehouse manager in Spain. She is amazingly well organised, and her team are always ready to meet any challenge. But this looming problem is on another level. We could rent containers and put them in the carpark, we have space, but I know from experience that's not ideal. We will need to use fulfillment storage services to store excess stock and bring it in as we need it. But so far we didn't find the right place near enough. Ultimately we will need to move to a big shed warehouse like we have in the UK and Slovakia.. but we have another year to wait for the lease to end.

We have a tradition at AW of big Buddha statues outside our warehouses.. So Juani jokingly went to get inspiration from our Buddha statue.

Try not to stress, stay calm and we will find a way - we always do.

Back in the UK.. Indian stock is arriving already.. We are delighted to add to the Hop Hare Brand a new range of bags and pouches.. Perfect for the spring and summer seasons.

Lots of Indian and Indonesian products back in stock. Lots more on the way..

Anyway, my visit to Spain is very brief. Next week I will be in the UK.. I'm excited and looking forward to seeing the team.

Somehow I don't think I'm going to have a heatwave problem there :)

But there are huge happenings - lots of exciting products in the pipeline. Stand by for updates.

Take care, have a lovely weekend.

David