HAPPY NEW YEAR - Better Late Than Never!!

Dear Customers and Friends of Dogwood Square,





HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I have so many new ideas for this year, it's scary!

I hope that the promised change over to the new site can be
accomplished during the 1st quarter of this year. We put that on
hold for a while, but are now gearing up to move the site to a new
hosting company.

Many of the companies we have contacted have told us that because we do not have a "brick and mortar" location (in other words we are only found on the Internet, we do not have a physical store) they won't sell to us. We don't think that is fair, but we must adhere to all the rules. So we continue to look. If any of you reading this, have any suggestions of new products you would like to see us carry, please post a response to this entry and we will investigate.

We are seriously considering carrying Vitabath products since they are also distributed by Rich Brands who bought the Claire Burke franchise last September.

Speaking of Rich Brands and Claire Burke...the fragrance warmer refills still have not come in. However, we understand that they are going to be shipping in the next week or two. We still are taking orders and have maintained a large and growing backorder queue.

Don't worry! If you ordered refills and your order was put in the backorder queue, it WILL be filled just as soon as possible when our stock comes in. We have ordered 3 times as many refills as we need to fill our backorders.

Other new products looming on the horizon:

• I am working on an arrangement with a company called Oddity to create a sister site which we would link to. They offer beautiful seasonal home decor items such as: beautifully designed floral wreaths and garlands, candles, candle rings, and many other items such as you would find in Michael's or Hobby Lobby in the floral and home decor departments.
• There are many more baby monitor items which we have access to and have not had an opportunity to place on the site. We will try our best to add to this area in 2008. Likewise, we have advertised the Halo collection of baby clothing and have not had the time to update the site with our stock. That will be remedied this year.
• We have also started promotion of a new product for us -- Fragrance Lampes. The company we are working with is growing by leaps and bounds and we will be offering more styles and fragrances as time goes on. The lampes and fragrances we will carry are now and will be quality lampes and fragrances, but will be offered at a very reasonable price.

So as you can see these and perhaps some other things I am working on should make Dogwood Square an exciting place to shop this year.

We hope this year is going to be an exciting and prosperous one for all of you!!

Until next time...

Della

Event Blossom Comes to Dogwood Square!!!

Dear Brides & Brides to be,

We are pleased to announce that Dogwood Square, in our never ending quest to make your wedding day that most special of all days, has added a new supplier to our list of wedding suppliers. This is a new company who specializes in unique wedding favors. Their name is Event Blossom.

As with the other wedding suppliers we use, Event Blossom allows you to order samples of their products so you can see the favor and decide if it is just the right one for your special day.

Just like the other suppliers we use, you purchase the favors from Dogwood Square, however the shipment actually comes directly from the supplier who is in California. That way you are always assured that the items will be in stock since they can keep a much larger inventory than we can. And they ship fast!!! They say that most of their favors will ship within 1-3 business days. The exceptions would be certain personalized, or custom products which may take a slightly longer time, usually in 3-5 business days.

Because we have been so busy trying to fill all of our holiday orders, we don't have their favors on the Dogwood Square web site. So please visit Event Blossom and have a look at the items they offer. The page will not have prices since they are a wholesale site so for prices on an item, you can e-mail us.

When the holiday rush is over, we will have enough time to add their items to Dogwood Square so be on the look out for the new favors.

We also have several other new things up our sleeves...so be on the lookout and keep reading Dogwood Notes.

Until next time...

Della

Thanksgiving

Dear Friends,

We hope you and your families have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!

Until next time...

Della

UPS Raises Their Shipping Costs by 5%

Dear Friends,

You don't know how badly I hate bringing you this news. One of the things we depend upon so much in this business is the various shipping carriers. We, like you, believe that the charges we have to charge are too high already and now we have to announce that UPS' shipping costs are going even higher. At least it is not going to happen until after the holiday season. Here's the official blurb about the cost increase:

"As 2008 approaches, all of us at UPS would like to express our appreciation for your continued business. To help you plan for the coming year, we want you to know about new UPS rates and services that will take effect December 31, 2007.

UPS published small package Daily Rates will change as follows*:

• UPS Ground and UPS Standard to Canada services will increase 4.9%.
• Air and International express services will increase a net 4.9% through a combination of a 6.9% increase in rates and a 2% reduction in the air and international fuel surcharge.

Changes will also be made to accessorial charges.

• Delivery Area Surcharges and Residential Surcharges will increase by $0.10.
• The Additional Handling charge will increase by $0.50 and the charge for Address Corrections for UPS Ground packages will increase by $1.00.
• The charge for Declared Value will increase by $0.05 per $100 of Declared Value, with a minimum charge of $1.80, and you, as the shipper, will have the option to bill Declared Value charges for Freight Collect shipments to your account.

To see the complete list of accessorial changes, please visit ups.com/rates."

As you know we always pay for your shipping if your order is $50 or more, but for those of you who order less we always check around to see what the lowest shipping price is.

Again, we are sorry to have to bring this information to your attention, but felt that you needed to know why the costs of your order might be higher than you expected it to be.

Until next time...

Della

Dogwood Square Now Takes Discover Card

Dear Friends,

I just got off the phone with the nicest lady. I had called her because I couldn't get a reply to an e-mail I sent her. She told me that she had meant to cancel her order because she wanted to use her Discover Card and she couldn't find that card in those that Dogwood Square would take for payment.

She is from a small town in Michigan near Detroit and said that the economy there was really terrible. She said that even though it is time for shops to start hiring extra people for the holiday rush, no one was hiring this year. Things were so bad that many stores were already advertising 50% off sales just to get people in to buy.

She said that there were a lot of automotive workers where she lives and that the automotive industry was really in dire straights this year. And that there were a lot of people moving because they had lost their jobs.

Now how does that play into the bit about the Discover Card? Well, she said that Discover Card offered bonus points for everything you bought using their card. She said she had gotten coupons good for meals and gas and other things. So she and her family had stopped using all their other cards and only used their Discover Card now. And with the way the economy was going, every little bit helped.

I did end up cancelling her order after all, but she promised me that she would keep us in mind and would buy from us next time. And, because of her, I looked up Discover Card and, sure enough, they do offer a lot of benefits which people all over the country can take advantage of. So it was a no brainer for me, Dogwood Square now takes Discover Card.

I've said this so many times, but I think it is worth repeating...The very best thing about having this business is talking with our customers, whether on the phone or over e-mail. We absolutely have the very best customers!!!

Until next time...

Della