Another Amazing Week!

It's been another amazing week of long hours, hard work and wonderful discoveries. Feeling tired and work-worn, Nigel and I decided to start having Fridays off. By 'off' I mean out of the office, but still working. We've decided to have a look at some shops that stock similar items to ours, so that we can get ideas for new products and see 'in the flesh' some of the ones we're thinking of stocking. Also, our long term plan is to have our own premises and so getting out and about will help us to figure out where Chakra Bleu! would be best placed once we decide to open our own place. We never planned to be just an on-line store. Eventually, we plan to have a premises which will offer so much more than a shop!

For now, it's good to get away from the office and get some fresh air! We started with Haworth as it used to have lots of great little shops there. One of my favourites is the Rose & Co Apothecary, a lovely Victorian themed shop which is packed to the rafters with naturally-derived products. I bought some lavender balm, as I always do when I'm there as it's fantastic for all kinds of things. What struck me about Haworth, which I've never noticed before, was how unfriendly many of the shops have become. I was surprised. Now, I do understand that, in a more or less entirely 'tourism' based area, shop-keepers will become frustrated at people allowing their kids to run riot on their shops, but, you would still expect store-keepers to want to pass the time of day with their customers in a friendly way. There are always polite ways of dealing with behaviour you don't want. I was very surprised then, to arrive at a shop I always loved (I won't name names) and, on finding it closed, decided to have a browse at the window display. There, in the shop window was a sign which read 'This is a shop. We sell things. We do not partake in pointless conversation. If you want pointless conversation go elsewhere!' (not the exact words, but as close as I can get from memory). This was not the only poster in the window which referred to their dislike of 'pointless conversation'. This attitude annoyed me so much that, although I can appreciate their frustration, it actually gave me the impression that they can't be very friendly people, and Nigel and I both vowed never to set foot in the place ever again, which is a shame, because I used to love that shop.

We moved on to Hebden Bridge - a place that neither of us have visited before. What a fantastic place Hebden Bridge is, by contrast to our experiences in Haworth. It was busy, friendly, the shop-keepers were all chatty and helpful and the entire town had a great atmosphere. We went in a good few shops and bought a good few things!! Some of the shops stock items that are on our list for the website, so it was great to be able to see these items in the flesh and it reassured us of the quality. We also made an exciting discovery - Kimmidolls!! Kimmidolls are beautiful, simple Japanese figurines that have individual designs and names - each name meaning something positive, such as 'Joy', 'Patience' etc. When you visit the Kimmidoll website, each doll has a lovely message relating to its name which ties in beautifully with our 'Thought For Today' feature on the website. Kimmidolls are perfect for us, and you can be sure that we will be stocking them. I have been in touch with the manufacturer in Australia, and they have put me in touch with their only UK distributor. I feel very privileged to be able to stock Kimmidolls as well as starting my own collection. Go and have a look at them - www.kimmidoll.com - they are beautiful.

It's hard to assess the quality of something when you're ordering on-line and we are now more than happy to stock some of the things we weren't sure about before. We had a great day out and into the bargain, came away feeling as though in the future Hebden Bridge could well be the place for us!

On Wednesday we had a meeting with a lovely guy called David Humphreys from BizzFizz Coaching - a government project which offers coaching, practical help and support and puts you in contact with other business people who just might have the crucial bit of advice or information you need for your business. This meeting proved so valuable for us. David told us of a local supplier of healing crystals and gemstones as we had explained that we were reluctant to stock these items without being able to see them first. A photograph on a website goes no way toward showing you the quality of items of this nature. However, David told us of a supplier and importer of these products who - get this - is ten minutes' drive from Chakra Bleu! Not only that, but they have a shop. So, I registered on their website and, for yesterday's 'day off' we decided to pay the shop a visit so that we could look at the products. Imagine our surprise when, after 20 minutes looking round the shop, we told them who we are, and they immediately invited us into the warehouse to look at their wholesale stock! Talk about Aladdin's cave! I thought I'd died and gone to heaven looking at all the giant amethyst goedes, cathedrals and churches. We looked at crystal angels and massage wands - the fluorite ones are my favourite. There were palm stones of every kind, thumb stones, every kind of necklace, pendant and bracelet. There were agate geodes and slices, selenite and rose quartz candle holders, agate tea light holders. There was amethyst, jade, opalite, lapis lazuli, rose quartz, clear quartz, fluorite, citrine, aventurine, hematite, jet, smoky quartz, selenite, cherry quartz, tigers eye to name but a very few - in all manner of rough and polished forms! The place was fabulously laid out with everything on display. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful - and clearly very busy, fulfilling orders. Then came the added bonus we weren't expecting. We will actually be allowed to go into the warehouse and hand-pick the items we want, whenever we need new stock! Therefore, we'll be able to guarantee to our customers that the crystal items they buy from us will be, for the most part hand chosen by us. So, not only have we been given another fantastic opportunity to support local trade, but we're also able to hand pick our stock of healing crystal items, from a supplier who has been around for nearly 20 years.

The more we work on Chakra Bleu! and the closer we get to being able to launch, the more things continue to happen which reinforce in our hearts that this is absolutely what we are meant to be doing. Everything simply falls into place before us and the whole thing is gaining momentum.

We haven't decided what we're going to do with our next Friday 'off' yet, but no doubt it will uncover yet more interesting things! Meanwhile, Nigel is working every available hour building the back end of the website - a huge task and one that would have cost us tens of thousands of pounds if Nigel wasn't such a talented web designer. Indeed - without my wonderful Nigel, there would be no Chakra Bleu!

Well, that's all for now folks. I'm off to get ready for X-Factor! It's the only television programme I watch. I was so upset to see Daniel go, but I'm sure there's a place in the industry for him and I think he'll go far. I'm not entirely sure who I want to win yet, but I'm really swinging toward Diana!

Bye for now, and lots of love

Lindsey

Fair Trade Fanatic!

Hi All,

From the outset, Nigel and I pledged that we would have a fair trade section on the website. At home, we try to buy as much fair trade as possible in our groceries, and, as you know, the choice is still quite limited. I guess I expected items for Chakra Bleu! to be in equally short supply, but I have been proved delightfully wrong! One particular fair trade supplier has really touched my heart - and my pocket! From the name - 'Namaste', to the products, to their background, they are simply perfect for us. Also, it turns out they are only 20 minutes drive from Chakra Bleu! so we have the double whammy of also supporting local trade, which is one of our other ambitions. This makes for a very happy Lindsey!

When it comes to selecting fair trade products with which to launch the website, I now find I am spoilt for choice. Rather naively, it seems, I assumed it would be the other way around and that I would have to trawl the earth to find enough products to really be able to say we had a fair trade section. As it is, there are so many products that I am having to reign myself in to avoid a situation where I end up over-stocking! What is it about Asian people and their amazing ability to create such beautiful, colourful things?! It really does bring home the fact that they have been the victims of a huge injustice by the rest of the world refusing to pay them a fair price for more than a fair day's work. Thank goodness things have changed, and continue to do so because the world would be a far duller place for want of these items.

So, what fair trade items can you expect to find on Chakra Bleu!? Where do I start? We have tinned candles, embossed leather notebooks, velvet and sari notebooks, incense and the most fantastic dragon incense burners! Then we have worry dolls; gorgeous, floaty prayer flags, the famous Nag Champa fragrance oil, oil burners, beautiful mango wood candle holders, stunning hand carved wooden tarot boxes and adorable sari fabric covered trinket boxes. I've chosen some lovely sari and patchwork fabric cushion covers and some sparkling glass mosaic bowls that I expect will sell out almost as soon as they appear on the website! My particular favourite item so far is the dragon incense burner, with its life-like appearance and vivid colours. These are but a few of the items we intend to stock, and of course, the collection wouldn't be complete without a beautiful hand-carved Buddah!

So, in the end, our fair trade section of the store is going to be as jam-packed as every other section. And there was I thinking I would struggle to fill it! I think, in many respects, the fair trade section of Chakra Bleu! is going to turn out to be my favourite - and certainly the one area where I will be spending all of my pocket money! :)

Namaste!

Lindsey

Sorry Mum!

Hi all,

Well my mum wasn't at all pleased to see that no new blog entries had appeared in the last ten days so I thought I'd better make one :)

Here's a snippet from our business plan...

Carefully Chosen Goods

We strive to check the sources of all of our products, and to make this information available to our customers. We look for:

• Safe products, with clear warnings of any risks
• Careful consideration of any risks to health, with clear warnings should there be any
• Fair treatment and pay for all people involved in the supply chain, no child labour
• Low impact on the planet and it's resources
• Attention to detail and quality
• Products well suited to their stated purpose
• Care taken to deliver longevity of the product
• Value for money

We will choose organic and fair trade products wherever possible. We will do our utmost to ensure that all products are produced using sustainable resources.

Nigel x