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Last week John and I received a call from the owner of our biggest selling line. This was the type of call that all retailers hate to hear. “Hey, we’re moving our operation cross country and by the way, product will not be available until January 2007. And we have to cancel your last three orders as we are now no longer in production.”

We happen to be one of their biggest customers and this is the call we get. Last minute. Leaving us to scramble for the 3rd and 4th quarter. One of our websites was dedicated entirely to this product line.

John and I can’t afford the luxury of wallowing in a “poor us- what are we going to do now mode.” This is the classic case of, “Unless you produce your merchandise, you have no control over it and the rug can be pulled out from under you at any moment.”

Brighter side. Maybe the line has cycled out already. Time to get new lines that we can get excited about. As our website is called www.aromatherapycandle.com, we can focus on the aromatherapy aspect of the site. Ideas for new lines are dancing in our heads. Lists are being made for the upcoming gift shows.

This change will be an opportunity to put a little mix into our shop. This story has not ended yet. I still feel rather blind-sided by this, but I can’t say that I didn’t see it coming. I’ll be posting more on this throughout this transition.

Must remember ” Change is good…..change is good.”