Greetings from Spain       Happy Black Friday.. hope it's going well. Cyber Monday is next, and this year is where it is at.   Here in Malaga we are recruiting warehouse staff, not surprisingly (perhaps) in the space of a few hours, we had 200 applicants for two jobs.  What is surprising is the number of be-suited hopefuls who apparently don't trust emails, preferring to turn up in person to deliver their CV.  It's a pretty clever trend in job hunting techniques. You have got to be impressed. Last Christmas (and it now seems another age) we were training the AW-Artisan team after an intense recruiting round.. now it's time to expand the team. Last Week (also a long time ago) I was telling you about: Hero's Hiccups & Hope. Happenings in the far corners of AW.. you can read about it here.   To put you in the mood for Christmas congour up in your mind's eye the amazing (late great) George Micheal and mates in the ski lodge, broken hearts wooly jumpers.   Last Christmas.. Last Christmas, I gave you my heart But the very next day, you gave it away This year, to save me from tears I'll give it to someone special...   That is.. Save us all from tiers :)  level one, two or three.  Sorry, so sorry but I had to get in a tiers pun  But the big question (in the gift trade) is... what are people going to give each other this Christmas?   If you are new to this newsletter - I have been writing it every Friday, from wherever I happen to be.. for over nine years.. the first was from Thailand during Chinese New Year 2011.. You can scan a selection of old blogs here.Over 66,000 people subscribe to this newsletter, all customers and fellow giftware traders - Here I tell you the trade secrets, the gossips, the adventures and mishaps. You will meet Ringo our agent in Indonesia, Mr Chatterjee our man in India. Coco our agent in China.. and of course Tomas (product and marketing wizard), Raul (IT wizard), Katka and the whole team from the UK. Join me as I travel and work.. and feel free to email me your ideas and suggestions, over the years the readers of this blog have really shaped the direction AW has taken.    Last Christmas - was a different world. For sure it's a strange time we live in. All the popular usual gifts from a year ago are out of style. Who wears perfume or lipstick these days, my go-to gift of theatre tickets are practically off the table. Skiing trips a big no no. But since we are spending more time in the home, things that make us feel more at home. Homely things are what sells and we can see it in what's trending at AW.. Candle sales are sky high. Dinner Candles 214% up Soy Pot candles 128%. I can spend all day looking at stats, checking the trends and sometimes strange unexpected things happen. Essential oils of course you will know already are booming right now (unbranded up 69% - everything up at least 40%) and could be higher if we could get the supplies it's hard secure stock right now.

Unexpectedly Smudge Sticks are up (351%).. is everyone sat around in lockdown doing weird stuff at home.. yoga and meditation.. wafting herbal aromatics and chanting incantations? New stocks due in shortly - I'm told. Gemstone Face Rollers..  are newish, we didn't have them last Christmas but sales are 50% month on month. Home is Home Candle Pots are also new - and this year's perfect candle gift.  I won't bore you more.. but if you have any surprising trends in your business and would like to share them with the AW affinity inner circle - drop us a line.   In Spain we just launched a new "English language" site: AW-Artisan.eu  - ahead of Brexit. Check it out, if you are in Europe and speak English you might find it useful.    So no hugs (sorry gran)..  we are told this Christmas.. but at AW we have lots of things your customers can give instead. Thoughtful and kind gifts are the next best thing to a hug. Check out the deals below.   Wishing you all the best, remember to stay safe, give virtual hugs, wear a mask, and hopefully it won't all end in tiers :)   More updates and Christmas lyrics next week..   David