www.futons-direct.co.uk

http:www.futons-direct.co.uk

supply issues. As mentioned in a previous blog there are problems with the Malaysian economy and major

shipping problems. There aren’t enough container ships (many have been mothballed due to the recession)

the remaing fleets are doubling their charges, partly greed and partly constantly rising oil prices. The next

roblem area is metal futon frames from China, our popular Tokyo andBoston futons combine European style

and design with Chinese manufacturing savings. Sadly they are stuck in China waitinfg for a friendly ship.

At futons-direct.co.uk we would reccomend buying these types of products while they are still available and

and still at reasonable prices.

type of futon furniture for the coming year.  We expect all types of hardwood futon bases from Malaysia to be

popular, but there is a problem.  As the world economies pick up and the Chinese in particular, the demand

for this type of wood is growing and the futon bases will become scarcer,  more expensive and possibly

no longer available in Europe.  We are currently searching for supplies of good quality pine futon frames

and hope that these will be able to take the place of rubberwood futons.  As there is already supply diificulties

for some items, we would encourage customers not to take this type of product for granted, even put a little

bit of thought and appreciation into the complex logistics involved in getting these futons to Europe.

About 2 years ago there was an interesting TV program showing how containers from the far east are

offloaded and reloaded and moved around by computer in Singapore. If Singapore hadn’t made this costly

and imaginative investment many of the products on the high st wouldn’t as cheap and available as they are.

Unfortunately the container miracle is also showing signs of stress, at this moment in time many container

ships have been mothballed due to the world recession, the sailing survivors are outdated, oil burning and inefficent,

and there aren’t enough sailings to accommodate European demand.

Maybe enough bad news (don’t shoot the messenger, as they say) but the moral of this post is to expect big

changes soon in our wholesale and retail habits and even to our way of life.

year. Sales of higher quality futons have held up remarkedly well, it is still with regret that

we have watched the junk being sent out by the big chains. These big companies are preying

on the gullability of the public and their belief that if a product is supplied by a known high

street chain it must be good. Sadly in the case of futons this isn’t true and hasn’t been for

years. I remember a customer who bought from a famous company ( I couldn’t possibly

mention their name, but think cold area, blondes etc) He had his futon for 2 weeks, realized

he had been ripped off so he then set fire to it in the street and then had to spend more money

buying a suitable one) I can predict that many people will be visiting us to purchase new

futon mattresses. If  after Christmas you find your futon mattress to be unsuitable or

unusable return it to your supplier and demand at least a partial refund that will supply

some cash for a replacement.

The Yucatan area of Mexico has some of the world’s best beaches, also cave diving, kite surfing, snorking and

scuba diving. Also and maybe the most interesting is the history of the great Mayan Indian civilization. Sadly,

too often confused with the Aztecs, who were a short lasting, insane bunch of crazed killers, the Mayans were

around for at least 2,000 years. A quote from National Geographic ” the Maya created one of the most advanced

societies ever to flourish in the ancient world.” It’s engineers designed and built towering stone-clad pyramids

without the benefit of iron tools or wheels. They grasped the concept of zero and calculated the solar, lunar, Venusian

and Martian cycles with remarkable accuracy. Their calculation of the lunar month is just 24 seconds off today’s

atomic clocks.

Over future post we will list simple and interesting trips that can be taken from our holiday home base in Tulum.

have in common, not a lot except that there is a futon in the holiday home. We decided to add a link because the type of

people who buy futons might be interested in the type of holiday that a country like Mexico offers. Mexico receives

lots of European visitors, there are reasonable air fares available and the best time to visit has begun. The rainy season is

over, the average daytime temp is about 31 centigrade (not humid on the coast at this time of year) The ocean is warm

and is actually the beautiful colours as on the webpage. Email or call if you have any questions and we will be posting

info about trips, travel advice and the history of the area.

a possible solution. We are owners of a small holiday home in Tulum, Mexico which we have decided to rent out.

Over the coming weeks we will post information about the property (10-20 minutes from some of the most beautiful

beaches in the world) and we will also post info about the thousands of years of amazing history of the area.

Look for a link from our website (to be added soon) or email for more info.

in the better weather they often go on to visit the beautiful Cotswolds which start about

10 miles west of us. Others visit Oxford which is about 5 miles from us. If anyone wants

something to do in the colder seasons we would recommend a visit to the city museums.

Most famous is the Ashmolean (the worlds oldest museum which has just had a £50 million

makeover) Also amazing is the natural history museum with loads of fossils and a pretty scary, full sized

T Rex which towers above visitors and is awesome. Another almost unknown museum is the Museum of Oxford which

clearly tells the story of this great city. The museum of the History of Science has a fantastic collection

of scientific insturment, most interesting are the collection of astrolabes which were mechanical

computers developed in ancient Greece, redeveloped by the Muslims in the 8th century,

the great ocean voyages of the European explorers wouldn’t have been possible without them.

Best of all these museums are welcoming and totaly free of charge.

talking about, that is the importance of maintaing product quality (see our previous blog,

“Danger, sheds selling futons at Christmas”   Cars from Nissan were previously 100% reliable,

I traded my previous one in at 120,000 miles still in perfect running order. My wife also

has one and as tradein time approached I did some internet research. Shock, horror, stories of unreliability

and thousands of pounds spent on repairs. Nissan was taken over by a giant, nationalized company who

unleashed their bean counters and by saving a few pound here and there have destoyed the brand.

Example, by saving a few pounds on the timing chains some owners have encountered a £1000 repair bill

which only solves the problem for 20,000 miles. There is no moral excuse or for their own long term commercial sakes reason to whittle

down and dimish the useability or reliability of any product. Sadly I will never buy another Nissan (after 40 years

of brand loyalty) and sadly my own business area (futons) is under constant pressure from corporate greed and

shortsightedness.