Fresh Bet Bits, Claire Burke Original Memories, Home Fragrance Product Updates and Commentary

Hi - I just received my order for 3 Lavender Room sprays by Enchanted Meadow.

I just wanted to thank you for shipping it so quickly. You guys rock!!! And thanks for the free Ginger & Green Tea Lotion sample.

Thanks again,
Linda Franczuz

Several years ago we had some great scented pine cones for winter by Claire Burke that were very popular. This year for Fall/Winter 2007 we are offering two wonderfully scented bags of pine cones that are coated in wax to help start your wood burning fire.

There is Pine Forest for a fresh green clean fragrance reminiscent of a trip to the woods. Hearthside is nice spice/citrus blend that is perfect for the holiday season. These large bags of scented pine cones are perfect to display in a large bowl on the mantel. Or, for quick and easy room fragrancing, throw one or two into a wood-burning fire and enjoy the scent.

Click here for Enchanted Meadow Pine Cone Fire Starters.

This past visit to Market in July, we saw the brand new “Fire & Ice” Lamp by Enchanted Meadow. Leave it to Barbara to come up with such a stunning new design! Sparkling and Shimmering Ice Effects in glass with a glowing dancing flame!

We are starting out with the 7″ size in the Inverted Obelisk design. These are in the “Pure Energy” line and thus have the removable fuel cartridge. The wick assembly includes a patented grooved ring that will hold several drops of refresher oil to fragrance the room. Or, simply burn it unscented for added ambiance in any setting.

Click here for more information.

Ever since Reed Diffusers hit the market 4-5 years ago, there have not been alot of manufacturers who offer the refill oil. We get many requests for just the refill oil from our customers. When I go to Market and get a chance to talk to Factory folks; I always ask about the refills. Their answer is usually the same. I am always told that the cost of the refill oil is nearly as much as an entire new reed diffuser set; thus they tend not to offer them.

When we visited the Enchanted Meadow factory in July 2006, they didn’t see the refills as being so terribly expensive and now they are by far one of our best selling products. So, I always look forward to the new fragrances by Enchanted Meadow so that we can expand our offering to our customers.

This winter and fall, we have 6 new scents available in reed diffuser refills:
Amaretto Lime, Winterberry Orange, Silver Birch, Mistletoe, Whispering Pines & Spirit of Christmas.
Click here to see all of our reed diffuser refills.

We are also offering the complete reed diffuser set in Winterberry Orange, Mistletoe, Whispering Pines and Spirit of Christmas:

Several years ago we offered these lovely wax candle lamps by Enchanted Meadow. At that time, they did not have a removable cartridge that holds the lamp oil (liquid paraffin). We sold many of them and they were known as the “Eternal Flame” Candle Lamp.

Enchanted Meadow hand-makes all of these in their small family factory near Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. Last summer, Wade & I had the pleasure of touring their factory and meeting Barbara, the owner. Each lamp is hand decorated with botanicals and their production process gives each candle lamp a distressed appearance.

Barbara has improved upon the candle lamps by making the refillable oil reservoir removable. Now these are called “Pure Energy” and each lamp comes with a fuel cartridge that will simply slide up and out to be refilled with any high quality lamp oil. We offer the fuel cartridges separately as well as the recommended liquid paraffin oil for use in the Pure Energy Lamps.

Each lamp will forever stay beautiful because you never burn the wax exterior. There is a wick assembly that is included and we also sell replacement wick assemblies. Surrounding the wick is a patented fragrance oil cup that looks like a small brass metal groove. This enables you to burn the candle lamp unscented or with refresher oil. By adding a few drops of refresher oil to the grooved ring, the heat from the flame will release the fragrance into the room. Or, you can simply burn it without any refresher oil for ambiance.

These candle lamps make beautiful gifts! They are stylish and organic looking with natural botanical decorations. They fit into most any home decor theme with panache! We offer metal bases in the unique elliptical shape, or they can be placed directly onto fine furniture because they have a thoughtful cork base.

We are now offering the Pure Energy Candle Lamps by Enchanted Meadow in: Linen, Laurel Green, Teal and Caramel colors in both 5″ and 7″ heights. HINT: Display both heights on a lovely silver platter for a great accent decoration in any room.

We also offer the Egyptian style in Chocolate Brown and the Inverted Obelisk style in Cabernet, Laurel Green and Teal. Enchanted Meadow makes treasures that are truly a pleasure to give or receive!

Whew…so much to relay to everyone! Yesterday I spoke with our Claire Burke & Vitabath Sales Rep who has been rehired by the new Corporation. There is good news and bad news from the Factory:

Good News:
* Claire Burke & Vitabath are back in business!
* The new owner will have the warehouse resume shipments starting September 18th.
* More Vitabath is due to the warehouse the week of September 24th.
* More Claire Burke is due into the warehouse the week of October 8th.
* Christmas Memories and Oh Christmas Tree will start shipping to us by mid-October.
* Pomegranate Plum will become a new year-round scent sometime in 2008.

Bad News:
* ALL Pomegranate Plum and The Haunted Home have been CANCELLED for Fall. (UGGHH)
* The Warehouse is out of stock on Vitabath Gelee Gallons until late September.
* The Warehouse is out of stock on Claire Burke Original items until early October.

Please know that I have already placed bunches of new orders to replenish the Fresh Bet stock which has been severely depleted over the past 6 weeks. We are issuing credits to those customers who had pre-ordered Pomegranate Plum. These items have been “hidden” on our website and as soon as we know revised availability, they will be available for order.

As we receive confirmation that stock is enroute to us, you will start seeing more items available again on our website for order. Because our shopping cart charges your card when the order is placed, we have “hidden” many items that were out of stock. These items will be unhidden and available for order again very soon. In the meantime, you can certainly call us and the ladies can take your pre-orders by phone. This way your card will not be charged until the order is actually ready to ship.

We are incredibly disappointed that The Haunted Home will not be available this year. If the new management asks my opinion, I will request they make this scent available. I honestly thought these items would be in their warehouse, but apparently the financial problems prevented these items from being produced.

Currently we expect more Original Vapourri to arrive by 9/21. We have many backorders for Original Warmer Refills. We hope these will arrive by 10-12 so that we can ship all of your long-awaited orders right away. As always, if you have questions regarding your order, please don’t hesitate to email us.

Again, thanks so much for your continued patience as we all muddle through these factory-induced availability issues.

Bet

First of all, let me thank all of our customers for their incredible patience during this difficult time. We have not received any Claire Burke shipments since mid July. It was late July when we learned the Factory would be unable to ship inventory because of management changes. Basically the Corporation who owns Claire Burke & Vitabath had gone “under”.

For the past month, I have been calling Claire Burke to find out about the sale of the company. I knew this wonderful old brand would not go away and that it was just a matter of time before another holding company would buy the brand. During the entire month of August, I was informed that bids were being evaluated and by early September a new owner would emerge.

This past week, I called again and was told that a new owner has been selected. Since I have been selling Claire Burke, there have been 3 Corporations that have held the company since 1998. The new owners will be the 4th and I hope availability issues will improve.

At this time, I expect to receive a call this coming week advising me of a time frame for shipments to resume. My personal belief is that all of Original, Pomegranate Plum & The Haunted Home merchandise is sitting in their warehouse in Upstate, NY. It shouldn’t take too much to reopen the warehouse and start shipping to the retailers. (Of course….I’ve been wrong before!)

We have lots of inventory on order and we will jump quickly to insure new orders are placed to comply with any new requirements. At this time, I am optimistic that we should be able to fulfill all backorders sometime in September. When I find out more information, please know it will be posted right here.

Bet

Archipelago Botanicals decided to blend a combination of Oat, Rice, and Soy Proteins to create this collection of bath, body, foot, and hair care products that is super fresh and clean. If you enjoy a simple scent that is pure and natural, consider the Milk Collection by Archipelago Botanicals.

This award winning collection from Archipelago Botanicals is a favorite amongst nutrition experts, who believe that Soy extract is the perfect bath and body additive! The proteins, amino acids, and lipids found in Soy beans allow for rapid hydration and cell regeneration.

While our inventory lasts; now all Milk bodycare is 15% off.
Click here for Archipelago on sale.

We have a lovely Sales Rep named Joan whom I have known now for nearly 10 years. Joan is always showing us great new products. She has been after me for a year or two to add these cool Finders KeyPurse and all of this year to add the Scrunchy Tops.

You will find all of these fun new items on our new page called: Fun Schtuff

These handy hooks hang over the edge of your purse and add a little glitz and glam to your day! Such a clever idea for the woman who tosses her keys into her purse and later has to dig around to find them. Now you can express a bit of style while keeping keys handy.

There are 18 super cute designs from which to choose. Some are silver toned and we also have chic colored styles that are just too cool! Click here to see all the Finders KeyPurse.

Based upon Joan’s recommendation, we are also adding some great new “scrunchy” tops in various colors. These will be available in cap sleeve shirt, tank top and cardigan. The best part is they stretch and essentially fit all sizes. They can be tossed in the washer or dryer with no fuss and travel beautifully. Just throw it on and you’ll look put together in no time!

Click here for our new Scrunch Tops.

Last month we had an opportunity to try out a new Customer Survey program. I was delighted with the responses we received. Many of our customers requested more competitive pricing for TC Air Fresheners and Dispensers. Thus, I am pleased to announce that we have lowered prices on all TC Air Freshener Dispensers & Kits; as well as added Case Pricing for Microburst 3000 refills, T-Cells, Gel Cups, Yankee Candle Standard 6 oz and Pump Refills.

We have also set up new Case Pricing for Microburst 9000 and TC Standard 6 oz Air Freshener refills. For business restroom hygiene, we have lowered selected pricing on One Shot Plus, Hand Sanitizers, Foam Soap and Auto Janitor.

New Lower TC Air Freshener Dispenser Pricing

* Microburst 3000 Economy Dispenser Was: $31.95, Now: $23.95
* Standard 6 oz Economy Dispenser Was: $31.95, Now: $18.95
* Gel Cup Economy Dispenser Was: $14.95, Now: $9.95
* Service Plus Standard 6 oz Dispenser Was: $35.95, Now $26.95

New Lower TC Air Freshener Kit Prices

* Microburst 3000 Chrome Programmable Kit - Was: $75.95, Now $61.95.
* Microburst 3000 Economy Kit - Was: $40.95, Now $30.95
* Microburst 3000 White Programmable Kit - Was: $69.95, Now $57.95
* Microburst 9000 Economy Kit - Was: $45.95, Now $37.95
* Microburst 9000 White Programmable Kit - Was: $76.95, Now $63.95

New Case Quantity Discounted Prices for Refills

If you usually buy the same scent by the case, now you can save big!
* Microburst 3000 Refills, 12 per case: $69.60
* Yankee Candle 6 oz Standard Refills, 12/case: $69.95
* Gel Cup Refills - Were: $4.00/each, Now $3.00/each.
* Pump Refills now on Closeout clearance at $72.00/case of 12. Were: $93.00/case

T-Cell Case Prices, New Lower T-Cell Fan Dispenser Price - Was: $29.95, Now $24.95!

T-Cell Fan Dispenser is perfect for passive, continual fragrancing without a spray. Refills last 2 months and Batteries last one year. Ideal odor-neutralizing system for smaller rooms; uses no propellants. T-Cell Refills - Case of 6 Now $64.80

Lower Prices on TC Hand Soap, Hand Sanitizers, Auto Janitor
Cold & Flu Season will be here soon enough. Every home or office can use extra protection from illness with TC systems like:

* One Shot Plus Automatic Wall-Mount Foamy Hand Soap
* Instant Hand Sanitizer Wall-Mount Dispenser & Refills
* Manual, Wall-Mount Lotion Foam Soap Kits
* Counter Mount Automatic One Shot Gel Soap Dispensers, Kits, Refills