GemAvenue warehouse got reorganized!

I have been wanting to update on things happening at GemAvenue. But the last two months have been hectic to say the least.

After the Tucson show we arrived home on 6th February. On 12th Feb we left Charlotte to India. We visited India, Thailand, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia within a span of 24 days. That was a fully packed trip.

This is the first time we visited Indonesia. The main highlight of the trip to Indonesia was our stay in the house of my Indonesian item’ssupplier. We spent two days at his house. We enjoyed the stay. His family were so hospitable. Staying in a hotel versus staying in a village and experiencing the simple lifestyle of the local people is a lot of education by itself. In fact, the village was 5 hours drive distance from the capital Jakarta. The closest hotel would have been at least 2 hours away from his house. I have been doingbusiness with this guy for quite some time and I know him to be honest. Meeting in person made the relation stronger.

I have been to Bangkok many times. This was the first timeThafseera came along with me to Bangkok. We wanted to attend the Gem and Jewelry show in Bangkok. That is an awesome show and I love it. Thafseera always spoke about the Pad-Thai, a popular dish of Thailand. This was her opportunity to try authentic Pad-Thai. We also enjoyed eating the street food during our 4 days stay in Thailand.

After a little bit of “rest” in India, we flew to Saudi Arabia. This was a pilgrimage trip to Mecca and Madina. Before I came to USA, Iworked in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for almost 10 years. Hence, we both wanted to go back to Jeddah and see what changed. I can tell you honestly, every building in Jeddah talks loud of the economic boom it is in. I have never been to Riyad, the capital. From what I heard; Riyadh is going to surpass Dubai in all the glamour.  We still have strong family friendship with my previous employer’s family. We had an awesome full lamb (literally a full lamb) dinner at their house. After the spiritually uplifting prayers and rituals at Mecca and Madina we came back to Charlotte on 08th March, just 2 days before the 30-day fasting of the month of Ramadan commenced on 11th March.

Business was kind of slow up until mid-February. But by mid-February,we saw a lot of our customers were back at our warehouse. This inspired us to take a fresh look at our warehouse and the merchandise display. Thafseera is good at organizing things. She came up with a plan to rearrange the shelves andto reduce the height of the shelves to allow lighter to come in so people can see the merchandise better. We embarked on that labor intensive task during Ramadan, which means heavy lifting while fasting. Our fasting involves abstaining from food and drinks from dawn to sunset. Though it was tough, I think it paid off.  Our regular visitors have given us great feedback on this change.

The change is NOT just at our warehouse. We have made changes to our website also. We have made significant changes to the way items are laid out on the website. Click Here to see the new 6mm, 8mm, 10mm, 12mm bracelets page and Click Here to see the new Tumbled Stones page.

Finally, I also want to inform you the upcoming shows we are attending.

Livonia Michigan, Franklin North Carolina and Kissimmee Florida

Click Hear for show Details

If you are coming to any of these shows, please let me know if there is something I can bring for you.

Please also let me know if you want to make a video call to see the warehouse and shop on live video. I am ready for you when you are. Call me at 704.649.7451 to schedule a video call.

This Ramadan, Thafseera and I wish you and your family Peaceand Blessings.

Regards

Haroon Sait and Thasfeera Bai