Running a business with your life partner has so many wonderful benefits.  However, the single main drawback is being able to go on vacation together when just the two of you are working the business.  While we were still located in Los Angeles, I had some friends helping out.  So Glen and I were able to take a 2-week vacation together and have my friends watch the business.  That was in 2011.

Since then, we closed the business once for one week to go to a wedding in Florida.  We’ve had one week of vacation together in the last 7 years. 🙁  Don’t get me wrong, we both get away a good amount.  We both went to Los Angeles this year to visit friends and family.  Glen went in January, and I went in March.  Last year I went to the Berlin Eco-Fashion show and met with Swegmark in Sweden.  We planned a one-week cruise together, but some logistical issues required us to postpone the cruise.  So I had an amazing 10 days in Europe on my own, and he stayed home and watched the business.

We make a concerted effort to get away for 3-day weekends as much as possible.  Since we ship via the post office, we generally take every postal holiday off.  But when you own your own business, burn-out is a thing.  To keep that excitement and positive attitude going year after year, you really need to sharpen the saw.

So we are closing the store for two full weeks.  This is the first time in nearly 13 years in business that the shop will be “closed” for that long.

We’ll be closed from June 22 – July 8, 2018

So what does that mean?

• The website will be up and working, and orders CAN be placed during the entire period of our absence.
• We’re offering an AUTOMATIC 15% discount for the entire time we’re away as a thank-you for your patience.  No coupon need!
• Orders will ship in the order they were received staring July 9.  All orders will ship by July 11.
• We will have no e-mail or phone support for the entire period from June 22 – July 8
• Refunds and exchanges will be give priority and processed FIRST upon our return on July 9

I am confident that our wonderful customers will be supportive during this time, and the discount is just an added bonus. 🙂  If the store does well during our absence and everything runs fairly smoothly (i.e. no one initiating expensive chargebacks while we’re gone or getting frustrated with the delays), then we are considering making this a permanent thing.

We’re even considering closing for two weeks every year.  Since this particular vacation coincides with our regular yearly anniversary sale (the ONLY time all year that bras go on sale), we’re even considering making the two weeks at a different time of year for 2019 and running two yearly sales instead of just one.  That’s all still just ideas, though.

In case you’re wondering where we are going, we’re taking that postponed Baltics Cruise from last year, and then spending a week in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Thank you!

PS – We will resume our bra video series upon our return.  We still have 3 episodes left.

New York, London, Milan, and Paris have the largest Fashion Weeks around the world, but a number of other cities are touting more sustainable fashion weeks.  Green Fashion Week is a non-profit, traveling, sustainable trade show that has already made stops in Los Angeles, Milan and Abu Dhabi with its next showing in Rome and Naples in November.  And Ethical Fashion Show Berlin has become a sustainable Fashion Week staple.  It runs concurrent to the Berlin Fashion Week with a clear focus on sustainability, and partners with Green Showroom, an eco-fashion resource for retailers.  This summer Ethical Fashion Show Berlin has made a permanent move to a larger venue… and Faerie’s Dance will be there to check it out!

A confession… after 12 years working in the fashion industry, I’ve personally never been to a professional fashion show.  In truth, I still get more excited by spreadsheets and graphs than runways and high heels.  YES, I love what I do for the positive impact it has on the world.  (In case you weren’t aware, EcoWatch claims Fast Fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world, second only to oil.)  But rekindling passion for your work is never a bad thing, and one of the things I’m very passionate about is travel.

So this year I’m going to do a little work-related traveling.  Faerie’s Dance will be attending the Ethical Fashion Show Berlin, checking out new lines at the Green Showroom, meeting up with Occidente at Panorama Berlin and finally flying to Sweden to discuss organic cotton bra designs with Swegmark.  Of course, since I’ll already be in Sweden… My partner and I will be taking a much needed vacation together as well, spending a week on a cruise through the Baltics.

We are training assistants to “watch the store,” and will be shipping orders and processing returns and exchanges during the entire trip, from July 1 – 20th.  However, customer service will be limited to e-mail only, with no phone service at all during that period, and we will not be able to offer expedited shipping for those 3 weeks.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook to get updates from the show.  I look forward to celebrating our 12 year business anniversary on July 22, 2107, upon my return.