Wholesale Success Stories - Ancient Wisdom - Giftware and Aromatherapy Supplier

Greetings from Yiwu, China

I just arrived, today went to the main giftware area in the huge wholesale permanent market they have here.

Regular readers will know that it is epic, an endless exhibition of manufacturers showrooms.. now over 100,000. Apart from Chinese New Year it is open for business 7 days a week.

We have an office and warehouse here, it's not as pretty as the warehouse in Bali - you can read about that in last weeks news here - but essentially does the same job.

Ringo dropped me at the spectacularly beautiful Denpasar airport, he is always a bit emotional when I leave.. then I took the evening Airasia to KL, 7 hours in the air-side Sama-Sama hotel, then the morning flight to Hangzhou where my driver was waiting to take me the 90 minute drive to Yiwu.

From Bali to Yiwu.. it takes two flights. Sometimes three. My carbon footprint is terrible, I have been thinking about this..and a few people have written to me encouraging me to do something about it.

Driving to the airport Ringo was telling me about Kalimantan, you might have read the government of Indonesia is moving from the vastly over the crowded capital city of Jakarta to sparsely populated East Kalimantan, or you probably know it called Borneo, to a brand new city.

Kalimantan is huge and the land is very cheap, it is been bought up in vast swathes and used for intensive palm oil farming.

So, as you probably know you can pay to off-set your carbon foot-print by sending money to companies that plant trees. But my idea is that with Ringo's help we cut out the middleman, make sure it really happens and AW actually buys a chunk of Kalimantan and reforest it enough to offset all our companies executive travel for years to come.. will be a grand adventure also. Ringo says they even have government schemes to help you do this kind of thing. So he is looking into it.. I'll keep you updated.

Meanwhile, it really has all been happening this month. What with the new warehouse in Bali coming online, when I left the artists we found were working in the night making it the most beautiful warehouse you have ever seen :)

In Spain at the same time, our lawyer was signing a deal on a new Big & Beautiful warehouse in Malaga, it's got a huge car park that we also plan to make beautiful with landscaping and planters. After all, we are in the business of selling beautiful things to amazing people, so why shouldn't everyone who works for AW not have the best possible environment. I'm really into this, inspired by the WeWork concept, where people have the best working environment possible, perform the best. We have big plans to redesign the main offices at AW HQ.

And I really want to find somewhere to put a table tennis table :)

In Bali, on the last day I managed to meet up with two of our most successful suppliers.. both companies run by ladies. The lady that makes the Bath Bomb display stands amongst other things: Widya Dewi.. when we first started working with her she had rented a small showroom on the main wholesale road outside of Ubud and was living with her family in a single room at the back - working part-time at the bank opposite to make ends meet.

She was making candlesticks for us in Albasia wood, and later we started making display stands.. she took on workers, bought some land a strip that goes way back to the rain forest behind. She is a lovely lady, very organised always thinking of ways to get more efficient. She proudly showed me the house she was building for her family - three stories.. all thanks to you she said. It has to be said her husband is there always working, but she is the brains and boss..

On the right, this Dewi always hands on. Here working on Dinner Candle display stands coming soon. This is the house she is building for her family..

We also went to see Wayan who has a thriving business and a similar story in the heart of Sukawati. Wayan is mega organised, always immaculately dressed in trendy skinny jeans, she has two young kids and truly handsome husband. Who, Ringo says is just in charge of security.. rather unkindly.. but for sure Wayan is the boss. We discovered she had bought a house behind her showroom and built a decent sized warehouse to finish and pack orders. Her staff all pretty girls look up to her and dress fashionably. "Mr David" she always calls me.. "We just wanted to say thank you, since we worked with you we have done better and better" she explained it's not just the good orders - but the products we develop she also sells to USA and Australia.. unlike other buyers we don't demand exclusivity for this reason.

Wayan on the right.. she makes the Mahogany Soap Dishes amongst other things. So this is the most satisfying part of my job when I see how real families and their workers benefit. Would this happen if i didn't go there?

MEANWHILE!!

Back in the UK it's the Birmingham Autumn Fair.. as you know AW doesn't do trade shows, never has, because we don't have any sales people :)

But we have to make an exception for our very British brand: Agnes & Cat.. we are displaying our wares... FIND US IN HALL 6 STAND H13

Sorry, still no sales people but you will meet Tomas and the team behind Agnes & Cat.

NB.. all the beautiful recycled wood (made from old fishing boats) furniture is made in Bali.. and another success story I will tell you about another time..

Next week news from China..

Have a great weekend.

David