OpTree

Neways International has opened a new 300,000 square feet state of the art warehouse facility in Springville, Utah replacing their old facility in Spanish Fork. The new warehouse is located directly behind its corporate headquarters.

Neways has announced that its first large order filled at the new warehouse will be supplies going to victims of recent hurricanes.

The new facility is currently being used to fill shipping containers for charity group, Globus Relief. Globus is a non-profit organization headquartered in Salt Lake City that raises money for charity, and works with other charities to donate to those in need both in the US and abroad. Their latest efforts are focused around hurricane victims who have been displaced recently.

Neways will donate over 700 hygiene kits to be given out by Globus to those in need. The kits will include 11,000 bottles of Neways supplement, Maximol, as well as other personal items including Neways toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, and hygienic powder.

Neways CEO Eric Larsen spoke about the company’s dedication to helping those in need. Neways has donated over $1 million dollars to relief efforts in the last few years. “It is significant that our first shipping container of Neways products is being contributed to people in need. Neways is committed to improving living conditions through natural products and we have partnered before with Globus Relief to improve the delivery of healthcare to those in need.”

Larsen is also thrilled with the potential opportunity the new warehouse will bring to the company and its distributors. “We’ll use this warehouse to do all our bulk shipping to Neways locations worldwide, as well as individual product orders to our distributors. We’ll also use it to assemble product kits and other items,” he said.

The new facility, which comes equipped with laser leveled cement floors, will now allow the company to ship hundreds of ocean going containers around the world on a monthly basis along with thousands of individual packages each day.

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NBTY, the New York based manufacturer of nutritional supplements, has just announced that they have expanded their global reach by purchasing Julian Graves, the UK’s largest independent specialty natural foods manufacturer.

Julian Graves has a network of over 300 stores across the UK and has annual sales of over $120 million dollars. The acquisition will expand NBTY’s European division greatly from just over 600 stores, to well over 900 stores.

NBTY, one of the largest nutritional supplement makers in the US, currently sells products both the retail distribution and by independent distributors around the world through its subsidiaries such as Natures Bounty, Vitamin World, Puritans Pride and MET-Rx.

Just this past June, NBTY won a bidding war during which it acquired a bankrupt California competitor, Leiner Health Products,-www.leiner.com- That acquisition greatly expanded the company’s position in the U.S. The $25 million dollar purchase of Julian Grace enhances NBTY’s position as the number one supplement retailer in the UK and will allow the company to gain a greater market share.

“The acquisition of Julian Graves is an integral part of NBTY’s strategic plan to enhance its position as the number one supplement retailer in the UK and gain greater market share,” says NBTY chairman and CEO Scott Rudolph. “We continue to seek acquisitions which generate growth and further entrench NBTY as the worldwide leader in the nutritional supplement industry.”

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Belegured home goods company, Home Interiors and Gifts, which in the past few months has had some major problems including bankruptcy and the announcement that they will seek a buyer for the company, has now notified employees at its Carrollton facility that the attempts to sell its operating entities is likely to have an impact on their jobs in the next few months.

I’m sure this comes as no surprise to the employees who have known for months now that the company is in some trouble. The company filed for bankruptcy some months ago, but was making an effort to turn things around. Unfortunately, those attempts were futile and last week the company asked for, and received permission from the U.S Bankruptcy court of Northern District of Texas for approval to sell its operating entities.

In a letter filed this past week with the Texas Workforce Commission Home Interiors says employees have been informed on the impact the sale could have on future employment. The company did say however, that the sale of the assets could also potentially lead to opportunities to staff members. “The company continues to conduct operations,” Home Interiors & Gifts said in the letter. “It’s possible potential buyer(s) of the company’s assets will hire employees who received Warn Act notices, although the company cannot make any guarantee.”

Currently there are over 130 employees at the Carrollton facilities. While I commend the company for finally warning employees of the possible termination of their positions, although a bit late in the game, it would also be great if they released a statement to their distributors. The distributors have given their time, and money, and committed themselves to working for the company. The distributors are the ones that have kept the company going. It would be great if they could be honest with those distributors about what a sale of assets could do to their employment as well. And of course, needless to say, still no word from the protective folks over at the DSA.   It’s great to know how on top of these things the Direct Selling Association is - makes ya really confident in their ability to provide timely information to the people that subsidize their business and salaries.

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During these hard economic times, its great to see companies like Mary Kay helping those who need it most. Thanks to the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation, founded by the founder of the Mary Kay Cosmetic Company, domestic violence shelters around the country will receive grants to help them help others.

The foundation will award grants totaling $3 million dollars to shelters in all 50 states and Washington DC, The Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The grants will be used to fund programs to curb domestic violence and to help keep shelter doors open during these tough economic times. Many of these shelters are seeing donation decline as people can not afford to be as charitable. Many shelters around the country are at risk of having to lay off staff or close down altogether.

“These grants from the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation come at a critical time for shelters across the country,” said Sue Else, president of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. “Thousands of women come into shelters every day for help and hope for themselves and their children. These grants will help shelters across the country provide needed support for women who have suffered domestic abuse.”

A part of the $3 million dollars in grants will come from the recently announced Country Music partnership with Mary Kay, “kiss domestic violence goodbye.” $600,000 thousand dollars will be awarded to 31 shelters in the names of various country artists who will auction off autographed lip print “Kiss Cards.” As we told you a month ago, country and rock singer Jewel is spearheading the partnership.

“The Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation is a leader in supporting programs to help women survive violent relationships and re-establish their lives,” said Anne Crews, member of the MKACF Board of Directors and vice president of Mary Kay Inc. “Shelters need our help, especially now, because they are the front-line resource for battered women and their children, whose needs are great.”

Since the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation was created almost 12 years ago, they have awarded almost $18 million dollars to shelter and programs to help those who have been affected by domestic violence.

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