THE WORLD HOLDS ITS BREATH

No. NO ONE goes through this time unaffected. It is the same for both private individuals and entrepreneurs. In a short time, everyone has had to feel increased costs and cross-stops in trade and services. Again. One might think we should be used to a roller-coaster structure after two pandemic years. But the fact is that during the pandemic years, most people had plenty of time and money. Now we all work as usual at our workplaces and most of the money we earn goes to the banks and the state companies in massively higher costs. Our pride at Reunion knew no bounds when we were appointed at the end of last year as Skåne's best store. It was a fantastic award that became a receipt for our great stubborn investment in the business, in a living countryside and in highly skilled and dedicated staff even during the tough pandemic years.

I, as the captain of the now rather large schooner, realized early this year that times were about to change. In recent months, I have had to stand on the deck and point out the direction with my whole hand. Throttle, brake, swerve, stop, boost, throttle, brake and balance. Higher costs and decreasing visitor numbers and poorer trade naturally result in less revenue – which means that we too have to reduce the costuming and cut back on staff, reduce our store areas and increase our sales in channels that have a greater reach.

We - our entire star gang - have together carried out the 2022 plans to strengthen the ship; We have moved our online store to our vacant Malmö location and reduced our warehouse space in Österlen. We have closed our Malmö store due to a nasty robbery in December. We do not want to risk the staff being exposed to this again. The premises - 250 square meters - now serve as a fantastic web warehouse, studio and office for our web team of six people.

We have moved our OUTLET store to Reunion Farm to optimize our own premises on the farm and we have built two brand new modern online shops; www.reunionhome.se for our private customers and www.reunionaf.se - exclusively for our ambitious dealers.

And as the last measure of the year, the Reunion OUTLET will now co-exist with the Reunion FLAGSHIPSTORE from November to March. We get to live together on a smaller surface - 500 square meters. The café gets more seats and it gets even cozier and warmer with Christmas and the bonfires and gofika and Christmas presents and then in the middle of all the coziness in December/January comes the new, crisply healthy and promising spring collection...which is also presented at the spring fairs in January.

We hope that you will continue to hold our hands even during this period which – I think you will all agree with us – is the saddest in years. Everyone hangs their heads, loses energy, worries, does not dare to plan. But one thing is certain, it won't last forever. Believe me.

Listen, there are lots of flashes of light. We live in a great place, we breathe fresh air and above all, we have each other.

We at Reunion are relentlessly building on our wonderful meeting place at Österlen. Reunion - SKÅNE'S BEST STORE. We only reduce the surface a bit during the cold months. Then we save some of the electricity that maybe some families with children need better this winter and we will unfortunately have a few fewer superstars working during the winter.

For us, a living countryside is an elixir of life and we do it together, you and us together with a number of other talented businesses here in Österlen who work hard to manage to be open all year round.

We hope you will continue to come here for coffee, rest, play, cozy up, shop, live, dream and hug. You sometimes need to come to a warm, comfortable meeting place and we definitely need your lovely ones. Life is NOW.

With love m.