Wholesale David's AW News: And so it begins - Ancient Wisdom

Greetings from Spain

Hope you had a great week.. a good month.. because now it is December. Yes it's here: Full on Christmas..

Do you feel it? Here in Spain,
it doesn't feel like Christmas yet.. I know the traditional Christmas runs later here - with Three Kings Day in January the traditional day for gifts, but still I'm not feeling it.

Well we have the 12 days of Christmas kicking off today.. see below for details. This is another chance for Rodrigo the Uk marketing wizard and part-time Christmas Elf to give away AW stock at ridiculously low prices..

Picking your lucky 12 days of Christmas Deals.

Maybe it is a good opportunity to dip into some new product families.. and get stock ready for NY sales.. but I guess you already thought of that.

It's busy here in Spain, so lots to do.. this weekend we have the AW-Artisan.eu Christmas Party.. in downtown Malaga. Katka and James are coming from the UK, and Matej from Slovakia.

And so begins.. the Party Season..

Last week I was telling you about our Big Plans for next year.. and an update on our pool terrace revamp at our home here in Spain. If you missed it you can catch up here.

Our terrace revamp is coming along Spanish style (slowly).. another week gone and even though the Father and son team seem to be (and actually are) working hard.. only little by little progress. They estimated it was a two week job, but already four and I pointed out to them it must be done before I leave for the UK. They have promised to find extra workers and started working later.. so lets see. But they still have a Siesta every afternoon.. 2 - 3pm I found them sleeping on sacks of concrete.. even though I told them they could use the spare bedroom, or sun loungers.. oh no we like it here they told me. Actually they are from Brazil and very nice guys, so just roll with it..

Coco is back in China and gearing up for another busy period. Because the Chinese New Year falls very early this year. Logistically if we don't get all our orders in place right now.. and despatch the next containers in January we won't have stock for Mother's Day in March. So the purchasing teams at AW are focused on that right now. We call it "The Season of Love" at AW. It's pretty big for AW because of the kind of stock we have.. From Valentine's Day through to Mother's Day and the Wedding Season May & June.. Yes I know it's Christmas.. but now is the time to think and plan for the next big sales season...

In Bali.. our team almost all came down with a mysterious flu bug. It seems to be sweeping Asia, not helped by unusually heavy rains. This and this rain is also disrupting production and slowing things up. Ringo (our man in Indonesia) called me most upset that they had not met November's target for the number of containers dispatched. I know they are doing their best but it's a worry, lots of things are working against us. Lots of artisans are being lured away from their villages for jobs in hotels or construction... creating a shortage of artisans. Small business owners complain about not having enough staff all the time. Is there a solution? I think so.. in January I will go with James (our UK logistics guy) and try to implement my radical plan.. but only have a short time before the Epic India / Nepal trip starts..

Eipic 2024 Plan

So meanwhile the India / Nepal planning is getting more and more complicated.. I'm not sure we can meet all the objectives.. in the time we have.. but almost daily I'm working on it with our man in India: Mr Chatterjee. Last year we bagged 436 new (all good) product lines.. some of which are still arriving in the warehouses now and some already sold and re-ordered. Altogether a massive boost to our esoteric products. Tomas told me that this year we have to top this.. I'm travelling with Toni (our man from Spain). Last year me and Toni went to Morocco. We went down mines, got lost in dusty mountain villages, made friends with the locals and came back with a brilliant range of geodes and selenite from the foothills of the Atlas mountains.. It was pretty wild.. but that was just the beginning.. basically just the induction course.. now it's time for Toni (and me) to venture to the unknown hard-core parts of India and Nepal..

Middle of nowhere in deep Morocco.

So it begins.. the search for new products to boost your sales, to bring you the latest esoteric, aromatic, artisan and exotic products.

Hope you will join us on the journey..

Meanwhile it's Christmas .. and lots to do..

And So Begins December.. the Christmas Season is full on for you.. and for us the planning begins for next year.

I know you are jolly busy.. have a wonderful weekend.

More updates next week from the UK.

Take care.

David