Tahlia's Work Experience Adventures

Hi! Tahlia here, posting a blog about my week of work experience adventures at the Eureco Sydney office.

From the 23rd-27th of May I've been here at the Sydney office with Frances, getting first hand experience with what really goes on behind the scenes at Eureco!

Monday

Waking up early Monday morning, I sprang up out of bed ready for the exciting day of work experience ahead! The weeks of anticipation had finally caught up with me and I was more than ready to head on over to the office. Grabbing a quick "wake up" coffee and hopping on the bus with a spring in my step, I made my way to the North Ryde office. With Frances at the bus stop ready to greet me, I already felt right at home in the Eureco team.

Frances and I took the quick two minute walk from the bus stop to the office and got straight to work. With online and wholesale orders coming in the night before, I had plenty to learn about the behind the scenes processes already!

Firt step was to create invoices for the orders. Frances taught me how to use the business accounting software in style that I could easily understand and I got it in one go! With processes such as recording the customers name and order number, and also recording payment etc. I was already experiencing and learning about an interesting element of the Eureco business. The next step was to wrap, pack and dispatch the orders. Frances taught me how to wrap the towels protectively and aesthetically to ensure quality arrival to the customer. We then took a drive over to the post office and sent the packages on their way to be loved by their new owner!

With a couple of boxes in the car, Francis then suprised me with a quick visit to one of Eureco's stockists Planet Commonwealth to drop off some orders to Ross, the owner. I really enjoyed being able to meet Ross and browse the style of furniture and homewares he sold including a vast variety of Eureco's Bamboo towels looking lovely on the shelf.

Once we finished up at Planet Commonwealth, Frances and I headed back over to the office for some late afternoon activities. Experiencing an almost crafty element of the business I spent my afternoon making some colour sample boards. These boards are given out to retailers to advertise Eureco's available colourways to the public if the store doesn't stock all colours. As well as for Eureco's retailers, the sample boards are also going to be used for the Organic Expo coming up, which Frances kindly invited me to! The expo is coming up in early August.

Tuesday

With another early wake up, I woke up excited for what jobs Frances had set up for me. First thing were some more orders that had come in, which I had completed in a few minutes now that I had the hang of it! As we wrapped the orders we noticed we were low on ribbon which I assumed was a complete disaster... However Frances, with her easy going attitude excitedly told me about the exquisite ribbon shop and I could tell this would be another busy day.

Frances and I headed over to the ribbon shop to check out some new colours and styles of ribbons. I have to say it was possibly the most stunning variety of ribbons I had ever seen, making it possibly a highlight of the week.

On our way back into the office we popped into the Bigfish studio where I met the lovely talented Eureco photographer Warwick! I stood there envying his high tech photography equipment while Frances and Warwick chatted away.

Next thing we were on the road again, heading back to the office to draft Eureco's next days blog. This was possibly the most time consuming, frustrating part of my week. Getting the layout completely right was very challenging for me, and I'm not lying when I say I was hopeless at it! After a long day I headed home, tired.

Click here to read the blog!

Wednesday

I arrived at the office to a VERY excited Frances. "TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL TOWEL DAY" she told me excitedly! Wearing our towels, we got straight to work.

First step was to release our one day sale live up on the Eureco website. This was great for me, as I got to learn how to use website design software.

After Frances and I updated the website we sent out a newletter to all Eureco's suscribers to let them know about the sale. I also helped Frances release the blog.

Click here to read our Towel Day blog!

As Frances is going on leave for the next two weeks, Marylin popped in to get updated on what's going on in the office. This was great, as I got to meet more people from the Eureco team!

Thursday

The week was going so quickly and I felt as if I had so much more to learn! As I greeted Frances, I noticed another Eureco team member, Sophie, in the office and eagerly introduced myself!

I was put straight to work and began to organise the warehouse when suddenly, A SURPRISE VISIT from a teacher from my school! Mr. Little, my science teacher, had popped in to see how I was going and ask a few questions about what I was learning at Eureco. I eagerly told him how much I was enjoying it, and how disappointed I was that the week was almost over. With great feedback Mr. Little was on his way and the rest of my day was full of making colour sample boards and organising the warehouse! Wow was I tired!

Friday

No way, the weeks all over! I arrived here this morning, eager to make the most of my final day at Eureco. Frances set me up with an assignment for me to write this blog. And here I am, at 4pm in the afternoon writing it! Having taken me all day, I've written and completed it, and am happier than ever!

I would like to thank Frances for having me here at the Eureco office and making me feel like part of the team. I have had a great experience, learning everything I need to know about the processes and elements of the business and I could not thank Frances enough for making this happen! I hope to come back to the Eureco team sometime in the future!

Tahlia.

Christmas and Cotton Commodities

Hello!

Gosh it’s been a long time since we last posted a blog.

We are very sad to report that our regular Eureco blogger, Megan, has moved on to a full time position writing copy for a well known real estate company. We wish her well and as you can see (by our subsequent lack of blog posts) her skills are much missed already!

Over the Christmas period we were extremely busy processing customer orders from all over the world and we hope that everyone who received Eureco towels or robes over Christmas was thrilled with their gifts!

Our January Sale commenced just a few days later with 20% off everything storewide and an incredible 40% off selected ‘clearance items’.

January is always an interesting time as we take time to review the year that was 2010 and prepare for what is looking as though it will be an increasingly challenging year ahead.

There have been some dramatic developments in the global cotton markets which are set to impact Eureco over the coming year. The Pakistani floods of 2010 destroyed over 3000 km2 (that’s 30%) of their cotton crop. According to the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association over 2 million bales of cotton were destroyed which has led to an increase in the global commodities price with cotton now trading at all time high prices.

Furthermore, the world’s largest producer of cotton, China, has also had a shortfall in production for the 12th year running, cutting their stockpiles to their lowest levels since 1995 and adding further upward pressure on the price of cotton.

Closer to home, the very recent Queensland floods have wiped out almost all Queensland’s cotton crop. While it is too soon to really understand what impact this will have on global cotton prices, it will doubtlessly add further pressure to what is already a volatile commodity.

All this activity in the global markets means that our Belgian supplier (along with almost all other textile manufacturers around the world) has been forced to increase their prices. Our prices are usually set in January for the 12 months ahead however, due to continued uncertainty around the price of cotton, our prices for 2011 are set for just 3 months at a time.

While we will not be amending our collection prices at this time, the possibility exists that we may be forced to increase our prices at some stage during 2011. Just more good reason to take advantage of our January sale prices while they last!

This year, we will also be discontinuing a number of our current colours within our Luxury Bamboo Collection and launching exciting new colours in their place. We expect to launch our new colours by roughly the end of March, early April and we’ll keep you updated with news of the new releases as they approach.

Sneak Peek - Frances putting together the colourstory for new colours launching soon!

In the meantime, don’t forget to take advantage of our January sale prices while they last!

Take care until next time!

It's our birthday and you get the presents!

Yes, that's right, Eureco's online store is turning one and we are slashing prices across the entire range as a birthday gift for all our customers!

We believe birthDAYS are too short so we are celebrating for the whole month of September. That means 20% off everything for the whole month. We reckon if the queen can pick and choose when her birthday is celebrated, so can we.

We have made it very easy for you, and already marked products down by 20% on the collections page. So you won't have any surprises at the check out and don't have to multiply the price by 0.2... Which is handy if maths isn't your thing. Here are some calculations I prepared earlier:

Bamboo bath towels now only $55.20
Organic cotton bath towels now only $38.40 from
Bamboo bath robes now only $176 marked down from $220
Bamboo kids towels now only $27.20

That's not all, there are also savings on:

• Bamboo facewashers, bamboo hand towels, bamboo bath sheets, bamboo bath mats
• Organic cotton wash mitts, organic cotton hand towels, organic cotton bath sheets, organic cotton bath mats
• Kids bamboo hooded towels, kids bamboo bath robes

What are you waiting for? Start celebrating!

Eureco at the Organic Expo

The Organic Expo is being held in Sydney at the Convention Centre from August 20-22 and Eureco will be there!

To celebrate Eureco's expo debut, we are holding a competition where you can win one of 10 passes to the expo! All you have to do is email megan@eureco.com.au and tell us why you love Eureco. Be creative! Winning entries will be blogged for the world to see! See further details below...

Not sure about bamboo? Don't know what the difference between cotton and organic cotton is? Come to the stand and feel the difference for yourself!

Our stand will be in the "green" section, near the back, number 161. We would love to meet you! Come to the expo and buy Eureco products at special discount expo prices. Yep, that's bamboo towels, bamboo bath mats, bamboo robes, kids mini bamboo and the new Bio Organic Cotton collection for discounted expo prices.


Engage with our activities at the expo and claim a discount voucher to use at the Eureco online store!

• Sign up to our mailing list

• Become our friend on Facebook

• Follow us on Twitter

• Enter our competition to win a special Eureco product pack.

Look out for our Robe Rovers wandering around the Expo - Eureco delegates wearing plush bamboo robes will be busy attracting people to our stand!

If you miss out on winning one of our passes to the expo make sure you buy your ticket online, as it's cheaper. The expo is a great opportunity to buy a present for dad, with Father's Day coming up just around the corner.

What else can you do at the Expo? Stay tuned for the next blog post!

See you at the Organic Expo!

Win Organic Expo Ticket Competition:
Email: megan@eureco.com.au your entry, please include EXPO in the subject line.
Entries close 5pm 11 August 2010. Winners will be announced 12 August 2010. Passes valid for 21-22 August only.

What's news? - Celebrating spoilt Mums everywhere!

So! What’s been happening this week at Eureco?

Well, this week the team at Eureco has been extremely busy ensuring Mums all over the world are being spoiled for Mother’s Day. We’ve been extra busy packing and gift wrapping all our customer orders and ensuring their arrival in time for Mother’s Day. On Sunday we’ll think of all our lucky Mums with their lovely Eureco robes.

In the middle of the mayhem, Frances stole a day or two for a quick trip to Brisbane. She swears she chatted to half the population of Paddington and Fortitude Valley and is looking forward to growing her base of retailers in the area.

Works have been continuing to upgrade our website and refine its function and we look forward to unveiling our new and improved site towards the end of May. We encountered a few technical issues this week which our Web Team have worked hard to resolve and for which we thank all our Customers affected for their good humour and understanding. All our orders still shipped within 24 hours!

Our new organic cotton collection is due to land in a week or two so work has been underway in the Eureco warehouse to make room for our gorgeous new products. How exciting!

Megan has been working on a series of blogs for future publication exploring the processes involved in the manufacture of bamboo and organic cotton towels. There is a lot of information so she’ll publish the series in easy to digest – bite size – chunks.

Part 1 – ‘Farming Future Fibres’ will be posted shortly so check back regularly, bookmark us or better yet, subscribe to our blog!

Don’t forget to get your suggestions in for our Puppy naming competition so you can be in the running to win one of our gorgeous bamboo towel bundles worth $184! We’ve been loving your entries so far, so keep them coming! Competition ends 4pm Thurs 20^th May and the winner will be announced on Thursday 27^th May.

There are only a few more days to take advantage of our Mother’s Day special offer with 25% off our luxurious bamboo robes. The robes are available in 7 colours and in 4 sizes so you’ll be certain to find a colour and size perfect for your Mum!

Hurry! Get your orders in by 12pm on Thursday 6^th May for guaranteed on time delivery Australia wide (within the express post network). We’ll even gift wrap them for you! This offer expires at Midnight on Sunday 9^th May.

That’s it for this week!

The Eureco Team.

Caring for your towels: our top tips for thick & thirsty towels!

We've put together our top tips for keeping your Eureco bamboo towels looking and feeling snuggle-icious!

Tips for brand new towels:

* We recommend that you wash your towels 3 times in plain warm water before use. All new towels will shed a little excess fibre at first and we think there's nothing more annoying than towel fluff sticking to you when you're just out of the shower! A few initial washes will eliminate this problem and leave your towels ready for service.

* Brand new towels will typically shrink a little upon initial washing. That might seem like a bad thing, but actually, the small amount of shrinkage that occurs during washing serves to tighten the towel's weave structure and will bind the terry loops more firmly into the cloth making your towels stronger, more durable and ready for service. Nifty eh?

* Sometimes snags (or slight pulls) can appear in new towels that have not yet been washed (because the weave has not yet tightened up). If you notice a pull or two in your towel, don't panic. Simply use a sharp pair of scissors to cut the snag off at the level of the pile. The towel will not ladder (run) or unravel.

Tips once towels are in regular use:

Washing:

When you're using and washing your towels on a regular basis, make sure the light and dark items are washed seperately. We always suggest that towels are washed with other towels or with other fluffy items like socks or tracksuit pants etc. We like to avoid washing our towels with our lovely black work pants...

Also, we know you want to save water but please don’t overload your machine when you're washing your Eureco towels. The excessive abrasion and agitation will cause the towel fibres to break down and this will reduce the durability and longevity of your lovely towels.

Soaps, detergents and additives:

There are lots of super-dooper washing detergents and fabric softeners on the market to 'transform' your washing into bright whiteness with every wash - but Eureco says no! Please do not use chlorine bleach, bluing agents or optic whiteners as these may alter or remove colour and can weaken fibres. A basic detergent will do.

Expert Tip: To help keep your towels extra soft (depending on the amount of soiling of course) try using only half the amount of detergent recommended by the manufacturer.

Make sure your detergent is added to the load as the washer fills, instead of pouring it directly onto the bamboo towels. This will avoid damage to the fabric and prevent a detergent build up which can reduce softness.

Expert Tip: Don't use fabric softener with your towels! Did you know that fabric softener acts in a similar way to hair conditioner? It coats the fibre and leaves it smooth, but ultimately it clogs up all the little gaps and micro-holes in the fibre that make it so absorbent!

Those in the know here at Eureco get very cranky with all those fabric softener TV commercials depicting lovely soft towels being hung on the line, or super cute kids snuggling into their snuggly towels and robes and thanking mum for using fabric softener! Don't be fooled - it's a misnomer! Keep your towels thick and thirsty by avoiding fabric softener.

Drying:

After washing, remove your towels from the machine promptly and give them a shake to help reduce wrinkling. We urge you to use nature's energy and line dry your towels, but if you absolutely have to use a dryer then a medium heat setting will be best.

Expert Tip: If you absolutely have to use a tumble dryer, be patient and avoid using a hot setting. The hot setting will burn the fibres, will cause them to start to break down, will cause excess linting and will ultimately reduce the durability and longevity of your towels.

Ironing: for OCD types (an the occassional photoshoot stylist)

At Eureco, we don't discriminate. If you really are inclined to iron your towels, please go for it! They are best ironed when still damp on a medium (cotton) setting.

Storage:

If you need to pack your bamboo towels away for a while, they should be stored in a cool, dry, well aerated place. We recommend storing towels in old cotton pillow cases, as storing them in plastic bags or boxes may cause yellowing over time. We also think reusing old pillowcases is cool.

Snags or Pulls:

If you notice a snag or two over the life of your towel, simply use a sharp pair of scissors to cut the snag off at the level of the pile.

Expert Tip: Looking over your old towels and snipping off any sneaky snags that have occured over time is a great way to reinvigorate your old towels and get them looking their best again!

Dry Cleaning:

Last of all, whatever you do, please DO NOT DRY-CLEAN your bamboo towels.

So there you have it, our top tips for caring for your lovely towels and keeping them soft, absorbent and long lasting!

Name our puppy and WIN!

Taronga Zoo has their baby elephant, Dubbo Zoo have their baby rhino, Eureco have their adopted eco pet!



So this puppy wandered into our inbox from the world of cyberspace and we have since adopted her as our company eco pet. Not only does she look like a towel when she is scrunched up on the floor, but she is also very cute.

Our puppy needs a name and we need your help! Our ideas are so bad that we are desperate for your input! (Frances suggested "Dobby the Doggy" - Seriously!) Please help!

The winning entrant with the best suggestion will win one of our luxury towel bundles (pictured) including 2 bath towels, 1 hand towel and 1 face washer worth $184! Get naming now!


Be as creative as you like, maybe something to do with towels or something eco or just something cool. Please let us know your naming ideas by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post. Don't forget to leave your email address so we can contact you!


Competition closes Thursday 20th May 4pm AEST. Colour of products shown in picture may vary in prize pack.

Spoil your Mum this Mother's Day!

Look out! Mother’s Day on Sunday the 9th of May is fast approaching... and so is Winter!

Obviously, we think our snuggly bamboo bath robes make the BEST Mum's Day present ever! We're so confident that your mum will absolutely love her bamboo bath robe (and better yet, YOU for spoiling her!) that we are offering 25% off our robes for your 'mum-pampering' convenience!

I worked it out: that’s $165 instead of $220! Save $55! They are available in 7 colours and in 4 sizes: Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large. So there's just no excuse for not spoiling your mum with one of our luxurious, super snuggly bamboo bathrobes.

To take advantage of this special price, all you have to do is enter the code “Ilovemymum” in the discount coupon field as you make your way through the check out at our secure online store.

Don’t forget you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter. We are lonely and need friends.

Bye for now!
Megan @ Eureco