Greetings from Sheffield and AW HQ.
It's been 48 days since the fire at AW, today as I type this the last part of the burned out building has been dragged to the floor.
So the old AW HQ is officially no more.
I just calculated how many days we occupied the building from being given the key in May 2008 to the day of the fire is 4444 days.
In China 4 is an extremely unlucky number, but in other ancient wisdom it means different things. Numerology is interesting, since biblical times numbers have powers. Last week I was telling you about the creative solutions we are using at AW to cope. If you missed it you can read it here.
On Tuesday, (that's just 44 days since the fire) things definitely changed, like the ground shifted. We got a call from the insurance company saying basically they would support us, the warehouse we want to move to - our potential new landlord called and wants to meet us and move things forward.
Yes.. and in goods-in, in despatch, in customer service, and in production - I could feel the mood shifting. AW is back, we are starting to win battles, people smiling and getting stuff done. Andy - one of our long standing order pickers stopped me between the racking, "It's going to be alright isn't it?" - "I think so Andy, we can do this!" Behind his mask I could feel his relief and smile. "I don't mind telling you I cried for Ancient Wisdom, I don't want to lose this"
Difficult times anyway what with covid and all, but in difficult times people pull together. And everyday we make some new steps forward, new products, better ways of doing things, arrival of new equipment. It's getting better - AW is officially back.
The encouragement everyday from you our customers has been amazing working like a magic hand. Of course we thank you for supporting us with your orders, kind words and not least a wave of good reviews on Reviews.co.uk feel free to add your encouragement :)
The number 4 in China is considered seriously unlucky, even buildings don't have a 4th or 14th or 24th floor, often just missing out those numbers - it also make's the upper floors seem higher I guess. But a bit of googling and I find that in China 4444 is actually super lucky.It seems when 4 is presented repeatedly as 4444, it gets rid of the ominous connotation and takes on auspicious meaning. The reason being is that the look of 4444 resembles four rockets neatly shooting towards the sky. It is a very good sign that signals your fortune to be like the rockets shooting high into the sky. In western numerology in tarot reading this number is the ultimate guardian angel number. The number contains a message from your angels that your spiritual guides and protectors are close at hand and are ready to intervene on your behalf. The Angel Number - check it out..
So the number 4 can be both bad and good luck.. just like the phoenix effect..
Maybe it's all mumbo jumbo, but sometimes you can feel forces at work you just don't understand. It seems to me AW has always bounced back from major setbacks (several of them) - always stronger and better than before. From the very beginning of AW it has been a pattern. On our company's 21st birthday I wrote a piece about this called The Phoenix Effect. You can read about it here.
It's another week of new products coming back on-line, or brand new products arriving. Check out the new stuff below. AW is back!
Take care.. I hope your guardian angels are not working from home.. have a great weekend.