Archive for December, 2008

I didn’t realize that we even tracked samples but I did a check today and we have mailed out a whopping 40000 samples in five years! That is an average of around 25 per day. That’s individual customers but the actual number of samples we pulled from our sample room or ordered from Hunter Douglas is much higher. I would guess an average of three per customer so that makes it around 130,000 pieces of blind material. That would fill a house or two if we sewed them together:). No wonder we spend two hours per day back there and everybody at the post office knows who we are! It’s to the point when the postage guys see me in line, he has the stamps pulled and ready to go by the time I make it up there.

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Hi guys. We are back. Everything should be caught up as of now and thanks for your patience. We are down to one person (me) for the next two days (big mistake on my part). I thought it would be dead between Christmas and New Years but today was the busiest we had in weeks. Not that I am complaining but wish we had more people here. Anyways, I am working on next months promos which we haven’t received from the manufactures yet. We have some really cool and affordable products coming in the next few weeks and will post them here. One is going to be close out woven woods. They are better pricing than even the value bamboo woods. Prestige discontinued these but still have stock. The quality is just fantastic. There will be no samples though and ordering now might not guarantee what they will have in the future. I’ll get those posted hopefully by the end of the week.

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We know color monitors just do not show the accurate color. We have thirteen monitors here and three laptops and none look the same. We are SLOWLY going through each color and are adding a description of the fabric and the color to make ordering samples an easier choice. Be patient on this (we have over 8500 images to manually do). I hope this makes it easier. Notice I said to “order samples”. The best way to choose a fabric is to have it in your hands:). We will ship those to you free usually that day. Five per day please and thanks.

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We hope everyone one has a wonderful Christmas. We are open tomorrow but will close once it dies down. We are closed Christmas (and to the lady that said we were not legit because we didn’t have someone to answer the phones on Thanksgiving) Tough! he he (or Ho Ho?). We will be back Friday and work the normal hours until New Years Eve and again, will leave if it is slow. We will be closed on New Years day. Please remember, most of our factories (all but one actually), do their year-end inventory between now and January 2nd. Actual production is usually stopped between these times as well. I personally will be be checking emails and messages during the times we are off and will help the best I can. Merry Christmas.

Louis

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We just added two new color lines in the Comfortex “sunscreens”. First is the Silver Screens II. Five new colors with that cool aluminum backing that gives this sunscreen the best reflective value on the market. The second group is called the Designer Screens in the Envisions collection. The Designer Screens are made of 100% polyester and have some of the nicest see-through fabrics out there. Another Comfortex first. Both lines are a 5% openness factor which is the most popular for the sunscreens.

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We just added hundreds of new photos so you can take a better look at the products. Simply click on the “Image Gallery” or “Photo Gallery” right above the quick quote of each page. Some might not have them yet because we are waiting on the vendors to get the photos to us.

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Last month Hunter Douglas Window Fashions™ announced another price increase for their Country Woods™ wood blinds, EverWood™ Collection and the Modern Precious Metals™ Aluminum Blinds. For the Everwood™, it was the second price increase in less than a year. They sent all the dealers new price guides and now we are to replace them back with the old grids. This is the first time in twelve years that I heard of Hunter Douglas™ receding prices and in my opinion, someone up there (the scarecrow) finally met the wizard before Christmas. No offence to Hunter Douglas™. The quality, innovation, materials, marketing, status etc. etc. of your products are unbeatable in a lot of areas but the bread and butters: woods, metals, faux woods (price wise) are really getting out of touch with the end user, the dealers and the competition. Granted some of the colors, options and materials are superb (no doubt about it) just look at the Everwood™ and you can easily tell it is superior to most out there. But more expensive than actual woods? When did that happen? Just my two cents and thank you, thank you, thank you for not doing this to us and our customers again so soon. Especially in this tough economy.

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We just added an affordable 1″ wooden blind. These are an excellent blind for shallow mount openings and doors. They are made of 100% basswood and have a lifetime warranty against warpage. Thye ususally ship in around seven working days and there are three painted colors along with seven popular stains.

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I picked up the paper Sunday and saw a very nice color ad from Lowes™. It was for a Faux Wood 2″ blind at 31″ x 64″. The price was just incredible. Much lower than ours or anybody else’s that I am aware of. I know Lowes™ does some massive buying and times are definitely tough but 10% below our actual cost? So I went down to the store to check it out myself and here is what I found: These are pre-made blinds in certain widths and heights. If your window is not that actual width, Lowes™ has this cut down machine there that will cut the width for you to your size. For the length, you will have to do that yourself. The quality of the blind was very flimsy with a super light head rail, a very generic valance and the slat material was weak. I guess it is good for laundry rooms, apts etc but for your entire house, it is only going last a couple of years and is definitely a temporary fix. Pay a little more and get it done right the first time. For a few extra bucks, you get a true custom made blind, it has a lifetime warranty against discoloration or warpage and the quality is literally five times as good. I then did some comparison shopping on the truly custom made one that they also offered in the ad. For a 31″ x 64″ Roman shade made by a national brand name, the cost was $211 verses ours at $164. As you can tell, for high quality, custom made blinds, the internet is the place to shop if you can measure and hang yourself. Just my 2 cents:)

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We just added a new 1″ mini blind selection called “Best Buy Mini Blinds“. Pricing is more in line with some of our competitors. We still are keeping the old line because motorization and eight gauge aluminum slat material is available with that and not with this new mini blind. Best Buy Mini Blinds is a durable, six gauge aluminum slat with a lifetime warranty.

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Yes, it is that time of year. Timber Blinds just sent us over a list of backorders for the Rio bamboo blinds:

#13 Franca Pecan ETA 1/31/09
#31 Monte Carmelo ETA 1/31/09
#45 Kon Tiki ETA 12/30/08
#46 Tatui ETA 1/31/09
#52 Coluna ETA 1/31/09
#65 Tupi ETA 1/31/09
#69 Serrana ETA 1/31/09

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I hate to say this guys but Hunter Douglas™ is having ANOTHER price increase effective January 6, 2009. From checking out the pricing, it looks like almost a 6% increase across the board. Prices will effect the following products:

• Country Wood™
• EverWoods™
• Modern Precious Metals™

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We just added a very high quality cellular shade line called Super Saver Single Cells. This is a 1/2″ single celled fabric in 15 light filtering colors and 12 blackout colors. Pricing is very reasonable, the fabric is of high quality, and all options are available including: top down-bottom up, cordless, and motorization. Order your free samples today for this new “Super Saver Single Cells”.

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This is an article given to us by Comfortex™. The soft touch of a translucent (see through) sheer provides the Shangri La™ 2″ and 3″ vaned sheer horizontal blinds with a beautiful radiance. The Shangri-La™ vanes are available in a room darkening or light filtering fabric and adjusts for different light control options. The Shangri-La™ is the only horizontal sheer where the vanes may be raised in the opened position which is an ecellent feature the other name brand sheers do not provide. You can match the exact same fabric in the Stardust™ 3 1/2″ vertical vanes so you can cordinate with your sliding glass doors. Click here for Shangri-La and Stardust.

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Comfortex ™ just added some new valance clips that will make it easier to attach to the Ballet™ and Stardust™ sheer vertical blinds. The new fascia mounting bracket for inside the window openings (inside mount) will help the installation process for the WOOD fascias. This option will make installation easier with just a snap of the bracket to hold it in place. If it happens to be necessary to attach a replacement to an existing fascia that you already have, just let us know and we will mail you the new bracket. All you do is stsple it in place with a standard 3/8″ T-50 “Arrow” brand staple.

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The new Odysee ™ Insulating blinds by Comfortex is a unique new cellular shade. It goes up and down and has the same energy efficiency as a normal cell shde but with a pull of the cord, the cells collapse to give a one inch view between the cells! To see the new Odysee, click here.