Sexy yet sassy, vampish yet vulnerable, aloof yet alluring - a luxurious range of pamper products by Melbourne-based Glamourflage. The products come in beautiful aluminium tins and silver coloured packaging printed with retro images of pin-up girls sporting outfits best described as ‘not for the faint hearted’. The design reflects Glamourflage’s philosophy that each product should look as good as it makes you feel. The range is created to exude glamour and impart confidence and style.

Glamourflage has just launched their new products - Vamp up those weary lips with a selection of two (that’s right - two) coloured lip glosses.

Containing aloe vera, vitamin E, beeswax, chamomile and apricot kernel oil - you’ll soon find yourself raring to go and whispering those sweet nothings again

There is also a fabulously glossy, beribboned bag - at only $1.50 wholesale, it’s a great way to package Glamourflage goodies and brings home the gifting nature of the range. Further details are available at www.glamourflage.com.au.

The “Dad & Dave” Rudd government’s propaganda about the economic outlook, both during and after the recent federal election, has caused the impressionable Reserve Bank to overkill on interest rate hikes and place the economic outlook into actual risk. This of course has most hurt the very sheep that voted the final level of union controlled government into the charge of the main till, when they were already badly failing to manage the states.

Now, at a time when retailers are concerned most about sales trends and forward estimates, we learn that the dynamic duo are cutting down the level of the monthly retail statistics reporting produced by the ABS, with the sample size reduced by two thirds. This is also a much higher cutback than other areas affected by their so called razor gang cutbacks to the ABS budget.

Until this change, our best economic indicator data came from the ABS retail sales numbers which were reported monthly with a lag of around 30 days. Retailing in Australia employs around 1.2 million people. This is almost 15 per cent of the workforce, making it the largest private sector employer.

The health of the Australian retail trade is the core of our economies health. Do Dad and Dave know this? Its hard to believe they do, whilst they are still unable to decide what to do with the huge projected economic surplus they have inherited. They are still focused on changing the structure that gave the country full employment and on propaganda to justify their false election claims to be able to put downward pressure on things they can have no control over, like petrol prices.

Specialist Exhibition company Reed Gift Fairs of Chatswood NSW has published the results of a survey designed to identify the current and preferred seasonal buying preferences of retailers and their planned gifts and homewares trade fair visitation in 2009.

The results say that most retailers currently buy stock for the main Christmas period buying season during August (70.1%) and September (69.4%) with the next most popular month being later in October (31.3%). Their preferred month for buying was August (31.3%) with September a close (27.8%) followed by October & July (almost equal and both at half those levels). Reed emphasises that the survey results show that the current cycle of trade fairs is already accurately timed.

Reed have been ramming this message home to all exhibitors at the Melbourne trade fair with huge billboards and by mail-out direct to all exhibitors. No doubt as a result of their hopes to keep the windfall September Sydney fair to themselves now. Reed seem to be determined to further embarrass their competitors GHA, following the GHA’s failure to secure enough exhibitors for September 2008 and simultaneous announcement that they were planning to do July trade fairs in Sydney instead from 2009, launching on the same date as Reed’s Brisbane gift fair.

Disillusioned GHA Members who had booked to exhibit at the Sydney September 2008 fair at the Showgrounds at Homebush were forced to pay almost double the rate at the Reed venue at Darling Harbour, mainly because the GHA (Gift & Homewares Association) is a not for profit organisation. Reed have since switched their Brisbane 2009 gift fair date to reduce the possibility that GHA’s Sydney July Home & Giving fair may draw exhibitors away from the Brisbane fair.

Key issues for GHA exhibitors now are; will the September gift fair now be worthwhile when the costs are almost double? Will Reed put the prices up further if they keep a monopoly on the more popular Sydney September fair dates? And can exhibitors afford to give up the September booking to try the cheaper July Sydney Fair? Or should they just scrap both? The problem for most exhibitors is that the costs of exhibiting at the smaller fairs are often not covered by sales results.

An interesting battle looms between July and September fairs and these two organisations as there does not seem to be room for two annual Sydney trade fairs within 3 months. The experienced hard nosed management at Reed have proven to be formidable in the recent past by winning over many GHA exhibitors even though GHA are able to offer exhibition sites at almost half the costs.

I know you small businesses get harrassed to change phone companies on a daily basis, but if you do have a small business, then you cant afford the hassles of dealing with Optus. I recently agreed to transfer our 2 mobile phones to Optus (as well as our other services) and they agreed to send 2 new Apple iPhone handsets. One handset failed to arrive and the other didnt work properly, so having activating it with Optus we had no mobile service.

The Optus sales guy’s number was permanently directed to an answering machine and he was not phoning back. When I phoned customer service and eventually got through, I was told it would be referred to the sales guy who was not calling back.

I then tried other numbers and when I finally got throught their system (designed to block enquiries), I was eventually told that I had to send the phone back and wait till they assess it and send a new one (and to start by ringing a cetain number for Claims on faulty equipment).

This number has a message saying the line is so busy that you had better ring back later. However when you have no service on a business number you need to get started on what seemed like it was going to be a major hassle.

After about 30 minutes of waiting to try to find out how to get a handset that works, I put that line on hold and used the other to call the local Optus branches to see if I could arrange to give their faulty new phone back there and collect a new one. Both Optus branches advised that if it was bought over the phone from Optus I need to deal with that source and that If I had collected it from them in the first place, I would still have to get them to mail it back to Apple anyway.

So after 4 days without service and the prospect of at least another 4, when I find out where to send the $%$#@%(65 Apple Iphone to, I asked one local Optus branch can I buy a new handset direct from them. She advised I can, but that they are not allowed to pre-test the Apple Iphones and that if I opened it there in the store and it would not work I would have to wait to have it sent back to Apple and I couldnt be just replaced. When I then asked if I could cancell the deal and go back to Vodaphone I was advised that I would have to pay the early cancellation fees.

Optus say they have a special system for Apple iPhones only. It appears that there are lot of problems with the Apple IPhones.

 When after 45 minutes on hold I got through to the “Claims on faulty equipment” number for Optus and explained in great details the problems with these mobile accounts and having no service, as well as the ADSL accounts that have not been set up, I was eventually told that he was going to send an email to the same guy in sales that never calls back, and that he would get back to me within 2 days!

You would think that these phone companies that spend so much money trying to get customers, could spend some trying to service new customers properly in stead of agravating the hell out of them when there is a problem.

Do yourself a favor.  Keep away from Apple iPhone untill they iron out all of the faults, and keep right away from Optus period.