Testing by the group found lead in handbags

testing by the group found lead in handbagsTake handbag company Oovoo Designs in Alexandria, Va. In 2008, Pauline Lewis, founder of the $500,000 company, saw sales slipping about 15 percent for her high end bags, which are hand stitched and embroidered in Vietnam, and sell for about $250 at boutiques. She also watched as customers picked up her cheapest product, a clutch purse for $99, and said they wished they could buy it, but couldn afford it now. , opening a single store is no big deal. But for Asprey, the 225 year old British luxury goods purveyor, taking a new space on New Yorks tony Madison Avenue this spring couldnt be more important.Long associated with clients who roll in royal circles and love the brand because their parents, grandparents and great grandparents did, Aspreys move from a temporary space on 57th Street to an address in the lower 70s is a crucial part of the companys brand re invigoration effort.The store on Madison will be smaller and more intimate than Aspreys former three level Trump Tower spread where it resided from 2004 up until a couple months ago and will have the look and feel of a cozy living space. And unlike the Trump location, which sold everything from $75 silver keychains aimed at tourists to $195,000 Jane Austen first edition sets, it will focus on selling carefully selected products such as housewares, fashion accessories and jewelry that resonate with the highbrow Asprey customer, many of whom live nearby.We wanted to move to a place where we were closer to our clients, says Howard Hyde, marketing director of Asprey in the United States. And a final warning: double leather is, Im told, the new double denim. This has danger written all over it. Or DFS. Im looking for something thats lucrative and not terribly expensive to get into. I have a fair amount of time to spare, so it wouldnt necessarily need to be something Id only have to do for an hour or two a week. Not that I could do it full time, but I would have more time to spend on it than someone who works full time. We have carefully reviewed our cost structure and have identified a number of areas for savings including freight, shrink, procurement of nonmerchandise business services, store labor optimization, and other payroll. We estimate that we can save $40 million annually by working across a number of functional areas. We have began to execute against a number of these identified opportunities and expect that we can realize $15 million of the savings in the current fiscal year to further support our EBITDA performance.