Greetings from Copenhagen Kastrup Airport, Denmark.
I'm on the way to Spain, en route to the UK. But I decided to stop off for one day to see my pal Allen (a slightly mad but brilliant Danish inventor, and expert in patent law), it was his birthday so we had lunch and later played chess in the hotel bar. He beat me again. But we made friends with those very friendly Danish folk who came to watch.
Last week I was telling you how Dreams can come true, from Bali, Indonesia. If you missed it you can catch up here.
From Denpasar airport, I took a Thai Airways flight to Bangkok. Then spent five hours working in transit and then a midnight flight to Copenhagen on a very old creaky Boeing 777.
A very strange experience, most of my fellow customers looked like veteran Thai versions of breaking bad characters. One old scruffy dude I think tried to sell me something, on the way to the toilet he stopped next to me mumbling something and showing me some small envelopes.. no, no thank you and I nudged him along.
Later at immigration, they looked like a group of retired mobsters, I heard one guy with long lank slicked back hair, a Gucci bag and a gold chain being quizzed about what he was doing in Denmark. Holiday he said (unconvincingly I thought), how long will you stay? Oh, (shrugging shoulders) erm 7 days... why so short? For a second he looked a bit lost for an answer.. then started laughing, and slammed a hand down on the counter ..your country haha.. it's very expensive! Yes sir it is, said the immigration officer and stamped his passport.
Up at 5am and a short stroll from the airport hotel to terminal 2, this is a very low-stress airport. My impression.. calm, quiet, arty, low lighting very organized. Virtually no queues and polite friendly people.
The next stop is Spain, where I need to catch up with Toni and the team, I'm continuing to write this on the early morning Norwegian air flight down to Malaga.
My last days in Bali I spent grappling with our dreadful supply lines issues. It's hard work, we had several meetings with suppliers who all told me the same thing, a shortage of artisans. Even increasing prices doesn't seem to impact much. Contracts help because they create long-term more secure jobs, so we have been signing a few more... Ringo and Bondhan, our guys there are doing their best. But I fear for the future of Indonesian Artisan crafts.
Anyway, we had a fish meal near the airport where I gave them an encouraging speech.. and we brainstormed some ideas.. said our goodbyes, and after that, they dropped me at the airport.
So this is it. The END... I'm at the end of the Spring 2024 Buying Trip. I started when I left my home in Spain on the 8th of January... and travelled to Bali, after India, then Nepal and on to China. Then back to Bali and now 103 days later full circle back to Spain...
Travelling part of the way with Toni (our man in Spain), James from the UK, Coco (my wife and your China agent), Tomas, Peter (from Slovakia ) and Raul. It's been a grand amazing adventure. Thank you for being part of it, your ideas and suggestions are always valuable.
We have 847 new products in the pipeline, opened up lots of new suppliers in India and Nepal, and probably created jobs for hundreds of artisans. I am very excited about quite a few ranges on the way- a huge amount of backroom stuff is done and being done, and four designers are busy making packaging and adding details... And so I'm pretty sure some of those products will be great for your customers and a big boost to your business.
So it's the epic END.. and every end is a new beginning.. the circle of life continues... Next up.. soon to the warehouse.
Lots of products from previous trips and from our Aromatics factory are landing almost every week. Last week we had big shipments from India and Bali.. so lots of fast-selling products are back in stock.
Crystal Balls seem to be back in fashion.. we are selling out fast. Also, anything gemstone-related is buzzing... Maybe it's that: Feel the Power of the Gems Start to Cleanse... Trending on TikTok.. did you see it?
I'm just landing in Malaga.. so I'm wishing you a lovely week...
Thank you once again for your support.
And remember... it's never the end... MORE News next week!