Hope this finds you well. It's hard to believe that we are starting to think about Christmas closing hours and pending end of year functions but it's a fact, the year has sped by and Christmas is upon us. Saying that, we are glad to put the worst of the winter behind us and the taste of the recent warmer weather is starting to seep in. We are looking forward to a great summer.

REFLECTING ON THE YEAR - Although this has been a difficult year for most there is always a silver lining and ours this year has been the return of Stu. His operation was very successful and all of us including the doctors are a little amazed to say the least to see him back at work part time and back at the helm. This has been no easy feat for Stu and his family and the determination and grit it must have taken to get back to this stage so quickly is an inspiration to us all. Welcome back Stu.

CATALOGUE - You will be pleased to hear that our new Catalogue has finally been printed, it looks great and we can't wait to get it to you. All going well you should receive your Catalogue in the post by the end of the month

PRICE INCREASE - You will recall in our last newsletter that we outlined how important keeping our prices down has been to us but there has been a significant increase in our costs and we have to put our prices up. As of the 1st November 2008 our new prices will take effect. There is an increase of 5% across all products and some increases in other services. These costs are all detailed in our new Price List, which will be sent out with the new Catalogues. We thank you for your support with this and if you have any questions don't hesitate to get in touch. Thanks.

NZIPF - We recently attended the first South Island meeting of the NZIPF held at the Copthorne on Durham on Sunday 14th September 2008. It was a pleasure to meet all those who attended and we look forward to meeting you again. It is good to see a New Zealand based orgainsation out there working for the good of the New Zealand picture framing industry.

CHRISTMAS CLOSURE 2008

Last Orders Dispatched

North Island:- Friday 19th December 2008
South Island:- Monday 22 December 2008

Factory Closes:- Monday 22nd December 2008 at 4.00pm

Factory Reopens: Tuesday 13th January 2009 at 7.30am

This has been another interesting year in the industry with never a quiet moment. Clearly, national and international economic conditions are impacting right down the line but at the end of the day its still about quality, price, getting our products to you and supporting you in your business. Some things will never change. Thanks for taking the time to read this and we look forward to being in touch with you again before Christmas. Speak soon.

Yours sincerely,

Donald, Stewart and Team Crawford