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FAIRLY TRADING WHOLESALE GIFTS SINCE 1995

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Epic Journeys
Fri Dec 03 2021 23:43:00 GMT+0800 (Malaysia Time)
Greetings from sunny Spain..

Last week I was telling you about Heaven and Hell in Bali.. and introduced you to the wood carving family, if you missed it you can catch up here.

Yes, I'm in Spain this week. I just travelled back from Bali. It was an epic 36 hour journey. Denpasar to Jakarta on wonderful Airasia, change of terminals, a six hour wait and the KLM to Singapore, 2 hours, then a 14 hour flight to Amsterdam, 6 hours again and then a short flight down to Malaga. Epic journey, I arrived rather frazzled with dry lips and red eyes from constant mask wearing.
But if my journey from Asia was traumatic it was nothing compared to Tomas's from Sheffield..

The plan was Tomas would arrive in Spain the day before me.. he actually set off to drive from Sheffield to Manchester airport just as I left my hotel in Ubud, Bali.  

But storm Arwen hit just as he reached the top of the Snake Pass . He sent me pictures of a snow blizzard just as I'm boarding the flight to Jakarta, in Jakarta he messaged me that he was in danger of missing the flight and was going to turn back and try to get to the A6 via Hope Valley.. he never made it. In Singapore I learned that he was totally stuck. Tomas spent the night in his car in the Snake Pass Inn car park (which was closed). It was 3am before he finally gave in and tried to get some sleep.. not until 11.30am the next day did the snow plough arrive. As I landed in Amsterdam I learned he was still stranded. I thought he was joking.. which brought forth some colourful language..  So finally he made it back to Sheffield, and rebooked the flight, this time taking the train.




So I actually arrived first. I thought I'd had an epic journey, but I think Tomas beat me on that.

My last days in Bali were a bit of a mad rush around to finalise deals and designs. To put in place a decent plan, and make sure everything was as organised as it could be. 
I'm quite happy with what our AW Bali team achieved in the seven weeks I was there.. We have just under 200 new products in production, and we estimated the initial orders will be at least ten container loads, on top of our usual re-orders.. so I think my trip put more than a thousand artisans back to work and along the way I'm sure we saved a few small businesses from bankruptcy. 
But none of this would be possible without the amazing support of you guys.. the hardworking and creative retailers who complete this magic circle. 

And talking about a magic circle.. the new AW logo is finally settled after six months of development.. of debate, of staff feedback, of me asking for more. Our professional logo designer, a lovely saintly lady.. almost lost it with us being unreasonable.. but finally it was born. And I, because I could.. immediately had it deployed on the wall of our Bali warehouse..
 

The circle, the triangle and the bar.. are highly symbolic. See if you can figure out the inner meanings.. I'll reveal all next week. The symbol will be the same for all parts of AW, but the colours will change to reflect each part's identity. Here in the Indonesian outpost of AW - it's a black circle, brown triangle and green bar. 
Watch out for it being gradually rolled out, first in marketing and later will appear in product packaging and labelling.

My last night in Bali turned into an impromptu leaving party in the local restaurant near my hotel. I had become quite friendly with the owner and his staff. Plus Bondhan, our new staff member who likes to play his guitar, had also bonded. He came along with his wife Debbie, Ringo brought his two daughters and we had a lovely evening saying goodbye to all my new friends. The boss and his team with Bondhan got on stage and sang.. "David's leaving on a jet plane, we don't know when he will be back again"..  But the highlight of the evening was when I jokingly asked Ringo's daughter if she wanted to sing with the band, and she shyly said maybe yes.. and to Ringo's absolute amazement got up and sang like a professional doing a spirited version of "Price Tag".. that "It's not about the money".. song. the whole restaurant and the boss just flipped, and Ringo just sat there with tears in his eyes shaking his head.  



So, the last night in Bali was very special for me, an evening I will never forget. And yes, it's not about the money at AW, we do it for the love of giftware, and that magic circle. And I left on a jet plane, but I DO KNOW when I will be back again..  as soon as possible! There is so much to do yet.

Tonight is AW Artisan's Christmas party in Spain and regular readers will know they know how to party.

In the UK it's beyond mad busy.. we are working all hours to get your orders out.. this week two containers arrived from Indonesia.. so lots of stuff is back in stock.  Check out the new items and deals below.
Once again thank you for your support.. And since it is now the 3rd of December.. I think I can wish you all a jolly.. SEASONS GREETINGS.. 

Take care.

David
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