After 10+ years in the business, we, Carol and Bill Rady, have made the difficult decision to shut down HDS Medallion by yearend. Due to some personal developments and the loss of our manufacturer, we stepped back to assess next steps in the business. Bottomline, we can’t take those next steps. The good news for you is that we still have bags ready to be sold at a very large discount. This massive sale makes it worthwhile for people to buy. Hence the Bye HDS 40% off sale. You do not have to do anything to get the 40% discount. It is automatically applied at checkout!
So come on in and learn more. Details below. If you want more information on the issues we worked through, see Background Section below.
When our manufacturer vacationed in Portugal and then moved there, we had built good inventories of a lot of our bags. So what do you do to reduce inventory? You have a massive sale that makes it worthwhile for people to buy. Hence the Bye HDS 40% off sale we are introducing now. With this price reduction, people can get that bag they have had on their radar or consider even more than one bag. Each of our four collections (Classic, Premier, Demi-Premier and Metro) have bags available. The Universal Collection soldout in 2019.
Inventory levels vary by bag. Here is a list of bags where we have with less than 20 bags in stock. If you’ve had your eye on one of these bags, we recommend you buy earlier rather than waiting.
Classic Paisley Punch Pink – 15
Premier Gypsy Bandana – 16
Premier Misty Gray – 19
Demi-Premier Zebra Daisy Dot Pink – 17
Demi-Premier Zebra Daisy Dot Aqua – 15
Demi-Premier Jewel Swirl – 8
Premier Jeweled Ribbons – 9
Demi-Premier Mulberry Criss Cross – 9
Demi-Premier Jet Polka Dot – Pink – 3; Red – 3; Turquoise – 9
Demi-Premier Purple Grandeur – 14
Demi-Premier Mini – Silver Dress Up – 18
Demi-Premier Mini – Silver & Black Lace – 19
A couple of other important notes.
1. If your order exceeds $95, shipping is free.
2. ALL SALES ARE FINAL. NO RETURNS. We have a very low return rate (less than 2%), so the risk to you is low. Many of you can attest to the quality of our bags! We just need to minimize any hassles or expenditures at this discount rate and as we shut down.
3. Starting April 5th we no longer sell on Amazon. The HDS Medallion site here will be the only digital sales channel for us.
4. We also will no longer be exhibiting at Abilities Expos or any gift shows. We will be focused on all the steps we need to take to be positioned to close out HDS Medallion by yearend. We still encourage everyone to go to these great expos and will miss being there!
BACKGROUND
The debate over the future of HDS Medallion began in 2019. Due to some personal developments (major house repairs) and the loss of our manufacturer (yes she moved to Portugal), we had to step back and take a good look at the business. We love the whole business especially the interaction with our customers at expos, in social media, on this site, etc. But the business has plateaued and needs a fresh approach. We have about tapped out tradeshows and selling online at this site and certainly on Amazon whose changes in algorhthms knocked our sales down over 80% in 2019.
The next logical step would be to build affiliate networks to sell bags locally (assisted living, independent living, group homes, local expos) and/or sell through digital affiliates who post our bags on their websites. In this model, they would market our bags, allow people to select the bag they wish to purchase on their site (which automatically transfers them to our site) and HDS Medallion would do all the processing, shipping, etc. It would all be managed electronically. This network might be through Durable Medical Equipment stores, boutiques in certain locales (e.g. The Villages in Florida) where seniors congregate, or chains of facilities or other places not yet discovered. But this requires a great deal of work (e.g. contracts developed, software, marketing, selling, redoing the website to handle various size orders, etc.) We estimate it would take more than a year to get it started and growing. We are in our 70’s so we had to face the fact that we probably don’t have the energy or interest to start a new business model.
CONCLUSION
If you have any questions, want to discuss buying bags to sell or for a particular facility or group, or just want to chat, email Carol at [email protected]. We are not saying good-bye right now, but please know we will miss doing business with such wonderful people as yourself.