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Blog posts of '2020' 'June'

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Welcome Aboard! Newsletter #1

  NEWSLETTER #1 - 8TH JUNE 2020

Ive had some false starts in creating this first news letter, but Im hoping that all the wrinkles are now ironed out and we should be ok to roll!!!

Kathryn Blinman quoted on facebook:  "FAIL - First Attempt in Learning!"  I dont know about first, but lets go with that for the point of this exercise.

The pressure is on now to come up with something interesting!

A BIG THANK YOU.

First and foremost, I wanted to use this first newsletter to thank our many wonderful customers who have supported us through first the Drought and then Covid 19. You have no idea how grateful we are, truly.  Surviving the drought was the hardest thing we have ever had to do and I mean that with no disrespect to the many farming families who heartbreakingly lost everything!

I think I will look back at Covid 19 and will be thankful that we went through the drought.  We were already at minimal operation level, as Staff left we didnt replace them, we were sensible with what stock we were buying and with the help of the Councils Business Parnter Program, we had built an ecommerce website that was in full operation and had reduced our overheads as much as possible.  When the Government announced that Australia would now to going into lock down, all we really had to concern ourself with was our Staff.  Jobkeeper was announced, so the staff were secure in their positions, so it was business as usual.

We were never told to close our doors, so we continued to operate through the lockdown.

The florist side of the business just flourished.  How prillidged were we that we got to be the sharer of your love with your families.  As we werent allowed to visit each other, we were giving floral gifts and hampers instead. That kept Olivia, Kate & I very very busy!! As Josh who looks after the flooring wasnt going into homes to do measures, quotes and laying, he and Jim were helping out with our floral deliveries.

Our flowers kept the furniture shop open for a few weeks there.  Mothers Day was over the top!  Olivia, Kate & I were working well into the night in the lead up preparing floral gifts.

This is a photo of our back storage area. I think these were the deliveries scheduled for FRIDAY alone!!  Saturday & Sunday were even bigger!

-  Some Mothers Day Statistics:

  • We took 77 online orders. Last year we took 7.
  • We did over 200 Mothers Day Deliveries in town over Friday, Saturday & Sunday.
  • We ran out of flowers three times BEFORE Mothers Day!!!

So when we say "Get your orders in early",  its totally not a sales pitch! It means get your orders in because we may run out of flowers!  Thank goodness I have an amazing supplier, David who looks after me. I rang him on Friday asking what do you have left? He said I really dont know yet until I get everyones orders out. I said "when you know can you please send me everything you have left!" Which he did! Im so grateful. Without a great supportive wholesaler, than I cant supply my customers.

Here are some of our creations:

 

Order Flowers On Line

Ordering flowers online is easy! There are alot of choices available, but if there isnt the right thing, just message me and I can add it for you.  Customers can testify to this, I have added something specially for them to add to their cart. Pay with Credit Card, Paypal, Zippay or Afterpay. All payments except Paypal are proceessed instore, your credit card notification will come through when we process it and I will ring you with Zippay & Afterpay to process on your App as an instore purchase.

ISOLATION INSANITY CHALLENGE

This was a bit of fun we had instore during March, April & May.  It was amazing to deliver a balloon to as many children as I could during this time.  Parents were asked to share a funny story about what their kids got up to during isolation and then I surprised them with a special balloon gift delivery.

NBN were so excited when they read about it on the Namoi Valley indepedent Facebook Page that they contacted me for an interview and to tag along on a delivery.  Rachel from Winanga-li contacted me and shared some funny stories about the kids and what they have been doing at Winanga-li, so we thought what a great delivery to join us come on.

I have attached a link to the story below:

NBN News Video

This was such great fun for everyone! It really does give us so much pleasure to share the fun with balloons.

As a side note, and I will share this is another Newsletter, about the evironmentally friendly aspect of balloons and the way we respect the environment.

Below is a link to the Isolation Insanity Stores

Isolation Insanity Stories

APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR AWARDS

Another exciting thing thats happened the last month or so is that both our Apprentice & Trainee were nominated for the Apprentice of the Year Awards.  This is done at a Regional Level and then Regional Winners go through to State with a big affair in Sydney in November.

Josh Dolbel - Flooring Specialist

Joshua Dolbel is who is Flooring Specialist and completed his Flooring Technology Degree earlier this year.  This was a four year course that Josh completed in 2 1/2 years.  The reason why Joshua was nomiated is becasuse he has developed techniques with measuring for jobs that cut the wastage of flooring down by a huge amout saving customers money.  Alot of the time Flooring is over-ordered and the customer pays for this wastage.  Joshua is extremely skillfull when it comes to measuring & planning the layout.  Josh is also very skilled with laying different types of flooring and a bit of a perfectionist.

This is something that sets us appart from our competitors.  Our Flooring Specialist is the same person that will consult with the customer about the best flooring options for your needs, he will measure your room, work out the best way to lay your flooring saving you money with minimal wastage. Then Josh actually lays the floor himself with assistance from his "apprentice" Stu.  There is a high degree of continuity because the person consulting you on the best flooring solutions for your needs is also the person that inspects your floor and completes your flooring. Josh consults with the Reps on the lastest technology for flooring solutions, so what he brings to the customers is the lastest on the market, with the most upto date skills to get the job done right.

You can ring Josh to talk to him about a Flooring Solution to best suit your needs on 67421676

Kate Bishop - Retail Certificate III

Kate is pretty special for someone so young.  She came to us for Work Experience in 2017 and so impressed us with her positive attitude and great smile that we instantly offered her a school based traineeship.  She started working for us on Saturdays straight away and as soon as the paper work was signed in November she started her School Based Traineeship.  A School Based traineeship is done in the place of an elective during Year 11 & 12. The students attend one day of TAFE and have to complete 100 hours of work experience.  Kate finished both her TAFE work and her hours way ahead of time leaving time to concentrate on her Higher School Certificate.

Kate impressed her teacher so much, that it was her Teacher that nominated her for Trainee of the Year.  After her teacher had a conversation with us about some of the amazing things Kate has done on the job, she had plenty of stories to add to Kates nomination.

A funny story with Kate:  So one Saturday morning we had a couple of young gentleman come into the store looking for something to house their clothes.  These guys had had a big night the night before, they still had their wobbly boots on.  Kate started talking to them trying to determine what would best suit their needs.  They said that this storage unit would be in the hall way/lounge room as there was no room in the bedroom.  Kate being a problem solver showed them the big gorgeous bar we had.  A Huge unit with stained glass at the front, a counter and heaps of cupboard and draw space at the back for all your glasses and drinks etc.  But Kate pointed out, they could use that to store their clothes and it wouldnt look out of placed in the loungeroom.  Well, they were sold on that idea, so rather than a chest of draws, they loaded up their beautiful stained glass bar into the trailer and off they went happy as larry!

Problem Solving and finding solutions for our customers is what Retail service is all about and Kate nailed it!!

Kate will be returning to us fulltime when she finishes Year 12 to complete her Certificate IV in Floristy.  We cant wait for her to be with Olivia and I everyday!

Both Josh & Kate have been through the first round of interviews and were successful and both have proceeded through to Finals. They have been through a second round of interviews and the announcement of who will make the trip to Sydney from this region will be notified sometime this month.  Josh had 9 others in his category and Kate had 11.  Both are so deserving of this great recognition and are valued employees with us.  We think they are champions! We dont need a piece of paper or trophy!!!  But we wish them both all the best!

Furniture:

Furniture is a scarse commodity at the moment!!  With the docks being closed down for so long out of China, imports are getting hard to get hold of! Though we have amazing local designers and manufacturers which we are taking advantage off at every opportunity!  We have always promoted Australia Made Furniture, simply because of the amazing quality, service and warranty! Also now though is availability!  We can have a custom designed and made lounge to suit your needs perfectly in around 6 weeks at the moment! Imports are taking 4 times longer than that! So if you are thinking lounges, talk to us about getting custom made perfection for your home!!!

 

The above lounge is an Australian Made lounge which can be customised to suit your requrements. The colour selection and choice of fabrics is huge, plus you can configure this lounge as a corner, 3 Seater + 2 Seater, Ottoman, Single Chair, add a fold out bed. Whatever suites your needs!! Perfect!

As a special Welcome to my newsletter, I have added a 10% off discount voucher which can be used online or instore.

Simply Quote WELCOME1 in the cart online,

or mention Welcome1 instore to get 10% off storewide. This promotion will run for 2 weeks only.

 Visit the Website

Check Out Furniture One - Gunnedah

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